FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- All five Methodist starters reached double figures as the men's basketball team remained perfect in conference play with an 81-71 win over Averett on Saturday afternoon at the March F. Riddle Center.
 
The Monarchs improved to 9-2 overall and 4-0 in league play with the 10-point win. Averett slipped to 6-4 overall and 1-2 in the USA South.
 
For the third time in as many games all five starters scored at least 10 points, led by Davion Ayabarreno's 19. Troynell Reese added a career-high 18, Bryan Rouse and Rae Hall each scored 15, and Jackson Whitley chipped in 12. Whitley added 14 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season to go with five blocks, and Hall handed out a career-high 10 assists for his first double-double of the year. Reese also had three blocks and a pair of steals, and Ayabarreno and Hall notched seven and six boards, respectively. The starters accounted for 79 of the team's 81 points.
 
The 10 assists for Hall marked the first time a Monarch handed out 10 assists in a game since A.B. Lehman did it in a loss to Shenandoah on Jan. 31, 2009.
 
After playing to a 34-34 draw through the game's first 20 minutes, the Monarchs opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take a 45-36 lead by the 15:09 mark. Ayabarreno scored the first points of the run and Reese followed with back-to-back buckets before Ayabarreno scored again. A layup by AU's James Contreras Jr. was answered by a three from Rouse for a nine-point edge with just under five minutes gone in the period.
 
MU's lead stood at 11 points (58-47) following a pair of free throws from Hall with 9:40 to play before Averett used a 16-7 burst to pull within two points (63-61) with 5:09 on the clock. The Cougars shot 5 for 8 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line during the run while using some full court pressure to force five turnovers from the Monarchs.
 
Two points would be as close as Averett would get in the game's closing moments however, as the Green & Gold used a 13-2 run to take a 76-63 lead on a layup from Reese with 1:58 to play. Ayabarreno scored five points during the run and Hall added four.
 
The first half was evenly played and featured eight ties and five lead changes as neither team led by more than five points.
 
For the game, MU shot 52.6 percent (30-57) from the floor and 72.0 percent (18-25) from the line. Averett was just 36.1 percent (26-72) from the field and hit on 14 of 19 free throws (.737). It was the fifth straight game that MU has shot better than 50.0 percent as a team and the Monarchs have won each contest. Methodist also held a 40-33 edge on the glass.
 
Contreras Jr. led the Cougars with 26 points but was held to 8 of 23 shooting, including 0 for 3 from long range. He added eight rebounds and three assists. Jamal Forde chipped in 11 points, and Raymond Bullock III totaled seven points off the bench.
 
Methodist will look for its sixth straight win on Wednesday when its hosts William Peace at 7:30 pm.