February 7, 2006
Monarchs’ two-game winning streak stopped in 76-65 defeat at Averett
Thomas scores 18 points as Methodist is now 4-5 in USA South

DANVILLE, Va. – The Methodist Monarch men’s basketball team was aiming for its first three-game winning streak of the season and tie head coach David Smith for first place all-time on the victory list for Methodist men’s basketball. However, those hopes were snapped on Tuesday as the Monarchs dropped a 76-65 decision at Averett.

The defeat drops Methodist to 6-15 overall and 4-5 in the USA South Athletic Conference. In addition, Smith remains one victory away from tying his mentor Joe Miller for first place all-time at Methodist.

The Monarchs shot the ball decent for the game, hitting 49 percent from the field. However, taking care of the ball was a Methodist Achilles’ heel as the Monarchs committed 25 turnovers for the game.

The game stayed close for much of the first half until the Cougars broke it open with a 12-0 run. Dominique Stevenson ignited the rally with a 3-point basket, followed by consecutive baskets by Rafael DeLeon and Cory McDaniel that increased the Averett lead to 41-28 with 3:21 remaining.

The Cougars led 48-33 with a basket by Sterling Williams with 24 seconds remaining.

In the second half, the Monarchs made a game of it with a furious rally. Trailing by 16 points, Methodist went on an impressive 17-2 run over an eight-minute period to trim the Cougar lead to one point.

The rally started with a 3-point basket by Marchise Jones at the 11:32 mark. Brandon Williams followed with three straight jump shots to cut the deficit to 60-53 with 8:47 remaining. Methodist wasn’t done as Antwin Shuford scored on a lay-up at the 6:21 mark to make the Averett lead 60-59.

That was as close as the Monarchs would get. Robert Lee drained a 15-foot jump shot to make the score 64-61 with 4:25 remaining. However, Averett responded with a 3-point basket by Stevenson, and then hit six free throws down the stretch to seal it.

Thomas paced Methodist with 18 points, while Dragan Radmanovic scored nine points and Eugene Grant added eight points.

For Averett (16-6, 7-2), Stevenson scored 18 points on four 3-point baskets, followed by Andrew Boor with 17 points. In addition, McDaniel scored 13 points off the bench and Williams added 11 points.

Methodist goes out of conference on Saturday with a 4 p.m. game at Piedmont.