DANVILLE, Va. -- Lamont King had 16 points and nine rebounds as the Ferrum College men's basketball team kept itself in a first-place tie in the USA South Athletic Conference with a 61-58 league win over Averett University tonight at the Grant Center.

Ferrum led 26-21 at halftime.  The Panthers scored the first two points of the second half on a basket by King, but Averett went on a 9-2 run to knot the score 30-30 at 16:25.  Jamal Pullen drilled a three-pointer and King converted a layup to put Ferrum back on top 35-30.  Averett went on a 7-1 run to take a 37-36 lead at 12:25.  The run was stopped when Marshall Hamilton hit a three-pointer to put Ferrum back on top 39-37.  Hamilton would hit another trey one minute later to give Ferrum a 42-40 lead.

Averett's biggest second half lead was 48-44 following a pair of Sunil Ram free throws at the 7:14 mark, but a 7-3 Ferrum spurt, capped by King's layup at 4:46, tied the game at 51-51.  Justin Pierce had a layup for the Cougars, followed by another King basket and the game was tied for the last time at 53-53 with 4:03 left in regulation.

Brian Clarke hit a pair of jumpers to put the Panthers in front by four with 2:53 left, then Bradley Robinson hit a layup for Averett, followed by a King layup.  Robinson stuck a three with 1:48 left to play and the lead was one point at 59-58.  J.D. Wallace's layup at 1:08 was the final score of the game.  Ram missed a desperation three-point attempt at the buzzer for Averett.

Hamilton and Wallace had 12 points each for the Panthers, and Pullen added eight points and six rebounds.  Pierce had 16 points and Robinson had 15 points for the Cougars (9-14, 4-8 USA South).

Ferrum (12-9, 9-3 USA South) hosts Maryville College Saturday, Feb. 16, at home.  Coach Bill Tharp's team will then host USA South co-leader Christopher Newport University Sunday, Feb. 17.  Both games begin at 4:00 p.m. at Swartz Gym.