DANVILLE, Va. – Host Averett University earned its first USA South Conference men's basketball victory of the season Sunday afternoon with a 77-61 win over Shenandoah.

Averett (3-21, 1-10 USA South) wins for the first time since December 30 with the victory over SU (3-19, 1-9).

With the Cougars having just one league game remaining, on Wednesday at league co-leader N.C. Wesleyan, Shenandoah still holds the fate of the sixth-seed at next week's USA South Conference in its own hands.

The Hornets finish the regular season on Friday and Saturday with games against Greensboro and Methodist, respectively, and wins over the Pride and Monarchs will make SU the No. 6 seed.

Shenandoah, which trailed 33-24 at the break, got itself back into the ballgame thanks to a 10-1 run midway through the second.

And then the bottom fell out.

Trailing 50-49 after Mitch Dudley converted a three-point play with 9:49 remaining, SU did not score another point for the next 5:46.

By the time that Dudley broke this scoreless streak with a free throw at 4:03, the Cougars held a 68-50 lead and were never seriously threatened again.

The lead remained at least 13 points the rest of the way, with Shenandoah getting that close after Chris Christensen drained a 3-pointer with 1:41 left.

Marquis Scott led AU to the victory – nine of his 18 points came during the decisive run and he also had a game-high 20 rebounds.

Dudley had a game-high 23 points and chipped in 10 rebounds. Freshman Avery Green was the only other SU player in double figures. He had 11.

Averett held a 56-34 advantage on the glass.