Winston-Salem, NC-  Salem Spirits hosted conference opponent Averett Cougars on Wednesday night, and put on a great display of basketball for much of the contest. The Spirits lead for most of the game, and let it slip away falling in defeat 77-81.  Salem were led in scoring by the trio of Makalla Burnette (26 points), Tyler Davenport (23 points) and Taylor Mabe (13 points).

The Spirits took a 17-point lead going into the 2nd half, but the Cougars made a heavy run to chip away at their deficit by pounding the offensive boards and getting to the free throw line for 35 attempts. Averett ended the game with 5 players scoring double digits, two of which had a double-doubles in points and rebounds;  Amani Ajaya with 15 points and 12 boards and Ravyn Johnson with 11 points and 13 boards.  

Salem shot their best field goal percentage so far this season by connecting on 41% of their shots.  Averett shot 31% overall from the game; 53% in the 2nd half.

Coach Mohney stated, "The first half of our basketball game showed the best ball that our team has played collectively this season.  We keep inching our way in showing what we are capable of doing.  The small mental errors we made tonight cost us the game in our fouling and our hustle points for rebounds.  Both are components that we can control; once we can control those mental errors; we will begin to show out."

The Spirits return to action on Saturday as they host William Peace at 2pm.