DANVILLE, VA (November 20, 2007)�Hampden-Sydney's basketball team dropped to 0-1 for the first time since the 1992 season as the Tigers fell to Averett University, 99-83, on Tuesday night at the Grant Center. On the evening, the Cougars shot 61.3 percent from three-point range, canning 11-of-16 shots from behind-the-arc in the second half, to propel them past the Tigers. With the victory, Averett improves to 1-1 on the season, while the Tigers drop to 0-1 overall.

Averett opened the game with a 7-2 run, but Hampden-Sydney battled back and cut the lead to one-point, 7-6, on a Tyler Murray (Atlanta, GA/Harrison) jumper. The score remained close until a Ryan Frazier three-pointer gave the Cougars a ten-point lead, 20-10. The Cougar lead would swell to as many as 12 points, 34-22, with just four minutes remaining, but the Tigers went on a 13-5 run over the last four minutes to cut the lead to four points at halftime, 39-35.

The game went back-and-forth during the early portions of the second-half. After falling behind by seven points, 47-40, Hampden-Sydney cut the game to one-point, 50-49, on a lay-up byTroy Kaase (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring), but the Tigers would get no closer as Averett went on a 19-6 run over a three minute span to take a 69-55 lead. Averett took its largest lead with 5:29 left to play and maintained its advantage late to take the 99-83 victory.

Hampden-Sydney had four players score in double figures and was led by sophomore Turner King (Roanoke, VA/Roanoke Catholic) who scored 24 points. Freshman Paul Matthews (Greensburg, PA/Greensburg Salem) scored 22 points in his collegiate debut, while Kaase and Murray finished with 13 and 11 points respectively. Murray finished with a double-double as he also grabbed a game-high ten rebounds. Averett was led by Frazier who scored 23 points on 7-of-9 shooting from three-point range, while Jonathan Rumley added 22 points and six steals.

The Tigers shot 46.2 (30-of-65) percent from the field, including 32.1 (9-of-28) percent from behind-the-arc and 77.8 (14-of-18) percent from the charity stripe, while Averett ended up at 50.8 percent from the field. The Tigers out-rebounded the Cougars by a margin of ten, 43-33.

The Tigers return to action at home on Saturday, December 1, at 2:00 pm against ODAC-foe Emory and Henry College at S. Douglas Fleet Gymnasium. Come out and support the Tigers! Fans can also catch all the exciting hardwood action on WFLO 95.7 FM or www.hsc.edu.