Ferrum, VA - The North Carolina Wesleyan men's basketball team took it to the road this weekend, battling Averett University and Ferrum College in Saturday and Sunday's USA South hoops action.  Unfortunately for the Bishops, the Cougars and Panthers would each come away with hard-fought victories, downing Wesleyan in the two contests by a combined 13 points.  With the two losses, the Bishops drop to 8-10 on the season, 3-3 in league play.

At FC on Sunday, Wesleyan led 36-35 at halftime only to see Ferrum come back for the win in the second half.  The Panthers opened the final period with a 9-2 run to open up a six-point advantage that they would hold for most of the half.

The Bishops did manage to regain the lead, 57-56, at the 9:49 mark on a free throw by Lenny Hall.  Wesleyan, however, would lead only once more as the Panthers again pulled away and built their biggest advantage, 76-68, with 1:50 remaining.  NCWC got no closer than three points the rest of the way and lost by an 83-79 score.

FC's Jon Godsey recorded a double-double with 19 points and 16 rebounds, while junior center Cedric Jones had 19 points and 12 rebounds.  Ferrum (9-10, 3-3 USAS) out-rebounded the Bishops 45-43. 

The Bishops were led by Hall's 20 points.  Emanuel Alston and Trey Drake had 15 points each, while Adam Coleman had 12 points and 13 rebounds.  Jarvis Cobb added 11 points in the loss.

Against AU on Saturday, the Cougars (12-6, 3-3 USAS) managed to build a 42-28 lead with 18:11 remaining in the contest. NCWC's Drake then went on a scoring tear, netting 11 of his 17 points over the next five minutes in a 21-8 run that pulled the Bishops to within one point at 50-49.

The two squads then traded baskets until the Bishops took their first lead of the game on a Hall three-pointer at the 10:04 mark, 57-56.

Trailing 62-60, AU's Shaun Hagwood hit a trey to put Averett back on top. Wesleyan regained the lead once more, but the Cougars pulled away down the stretch as Hagwood hit six free throws in the last two minutes to seal the 81-72 victory.

Hagwood led all scorers with a game-high 22 points. Lymon Gregory and Andrew Boor each chipped in 10 points for the Cougars.

Hall led the Bishops with 20 points on the afternoon, 18 of those coming in the second half. Cobb joined Drake in double figures with 12 points.