Men's Basketball Reaches NCAA Tournament With Thrilling 89-88 Overtime Win Over Averett

NEWPORT NEWS, VA - Dont'a Selden's free throws with 0.8 seconds left in regulation forced overtime and the Captains held off Averett in overtime to prevail 89-88 in the USA South Tournament Championship and reach the NCAA's for the first time since 2002-2003.

The Captains, trailing by three, 79-76 in the closing seconds of regulation, grabbed the rebound after Sterling Williams missed the front end of a one-and-one, came down the court and Selden, right in front of the CNU bench, launched a three-pointer, but was fouled by the Cougars Dominique Stevenson with eight-tenths of a second showing on the clock.

Selden calmly went to the line and drained all three free throws. On the ensuing in-bounds pass, Williams threw a baseball-like toss 80 feet and his shot rimmed out as time expired.

In the extra session, AU struck first on two free throws by Williams with 4:04 left. On the next CNU possession, Jeremy Romeo nailed a three-ball from Selden to give the Captains an 82-81 lead with 3:50 left to play. After a missed Cougar three-pointer, Davon Barton hit a jumper to give the Captains a three-point lead. CNU would extend its lead to as many as five with 56 seconds left on two Barton free throws.

Averett promply came down and drained one of its 15 three-pointers made on the day with 51 seconds left to trail 86-84. Barton was fouled and connected on one of two free throws to push the CNU lead back to three, 87-84 with 47 seconds left. On the next Cougar possession, Billy Gardner scored uncontested to bring Averett within one with 37 ticks left.

Selden was then fouled with 28 seconds remaining and missed both free throw attempts. The Cougars then retook the lead by one, 88-87 with 15 seconds to go on a jumper in the lane by Cory McDaniel.

On the next possession, Barton threaded a pass threw several AU defenders to an open Selden who drained the layup with eight seconds to go to put CNU ahead by one. Stevenson got the inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor and his reverse layup was a little strong off the backboard and Gardner's putback came after time expired to give the Captains the one point win.

Christopher Newport led by as many as seven in the first half, 19-12 with 13:30 left in the opening stanza on two Barton free throws. Averett then went on a 16-6 run of its own to take the lead by three, 28-25 with 8:57 left on a layup by Rafael Deleon. The Captains would battle back and go on a 9-2 run of its own to lead by four, 34-30 with 4:59 remaining in the first half on a layup by Edward Riley.

After Averett tied the score at 40-40 with 1:43 left on two free throws by Cameron Brown, Jahmar Claxton was fouled and made one of two free throws to lead 41-40. Stevenson would miss a three-pointer at the buzzer for Averett.

The Cougars were 11-of-28 (39%) from the floor in the first half but were 7-of-13 (54%) from behind the arc. AU was a perfect 11-of-11 from the line. The Captains were 15-of-29 (52%) from the field, 3-of-8 (38%) on threes and just 8-of-14 (57%) from the charity stripe.

In the second half, AU came out on fire from behind the arc. Five of the Cougars first eight buckets came from beyond the three-point line. Averett began the half on a 23-12 run to lead 63-53 with 14:10 left on a layup by Damien Brown.

Averett would lead by as many as 12 in the second half, 68-56 with 11:36 remaining in regulation on a layup by Brown. CNU would then chip away at the lead. The Cougars led 73-64 with 9:10 to go when the Captains started to come back. Over the final nine minutes, Averett would score just six more points as the Captains closed the second half on a 15-6 run.

Jeremy Romeo's three-ball with 2:53 left cut the Averett lead to 76-73. Andrew Boor hit one of two from the line and Selden, the man of the hour, drained a three-ball with 46 seconds left to cut the lead to one, 77-76. Williams nailed a layup for the Cougars with 16 seconds left. Barton then turned the ball over on the next play, setting up Williams missed free throw attempt and Selden's free throws to force overtime.

In the second half, Averett was 14-of-27 (52%) from the floor, 7-of-9 (79%) from behind the arc and just 4-of-7 from the line. The Captains finished the second stanza 12-of-32 (38%) from the floor, 6-of-12 from behind the arc and 8-of-10 from the free throw line.

In the extra session, the Cougars were 3-of-7 (43%) from the floor, 1-of-3 on threes and 2-of-2 from the foul line. CNU was 3-of-6 from the field, 1-of-2 from behind the arc and just 3-of-6 from the line.

For the game, Averett was 28-of-62 (45%) from the field, 15-of-25 (60%) on threes and 17-of-20 (85%) from the foul line. Christopher Newpot finished 30-of-67 (45%) from the floor, 10-of-22 (46%) behind the arc and 19-of-30 (63%) from the charity stripe.

The Cougars were led by Williams 20 points, 18 of which came after halftime. The First Team All-Conference performer was 6-of-12 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from behind the arc. Cory McDaniel added 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting and 5-of-7 on threes. Cameron Brown and Damien Brown finished with 10 points each.

The Captains were led by Barton's 23 points on 7-of-14 shooting including 2-of-5 from behind the arc and 7-of-8 from the line. He also had seven helpers. Romeo finished with 20 points on 6-of-14 shooting, 6-of-12 from downtown and seven rebounds. Selden contributed 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. Riley contributed 12 points and 10 boards off the bench.

CNU won the battle of the boards 47-32 in a game that featured six ties and 11 lead changes in the rematch of the 2001 Dixie Conference Championship, a game the Captains would win.

Joining Selden on the All-Tournament Team were his teammates Romeo and Riley, along with Averett's Williams and Damien Brown. Lenny Hall of NC Wesleyan rounded out the All-Tournament squad.

Averett finishes the year 20-8 overall while the Captains improve to 20-7. Christopher Newport advances to the tournament for the 16th time in its history and the first since the Captains lost to Savannah A&D in the first round in the 2002-2003 season. CNU will await its next game as the pairings are released Monday morning at 8 am.

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