Game Report Video (Click Here)By Leeroy Francis Jr. |Sports editorCOLUMBIA, S.C.—Senior Tyvez Monroe made a 16-foot jumper with 37 seconds left, and freshman Tyree Myers nailed four free throws in the last 15 seconds as the Augusta University men downed South Carolina 77-72 in college basketball at Colonial Life Arena on Friday night, Oct. 26.Senior Deane Williams totaled 16 point and 13 rebounds to lead the Jaguars in the exhibition contest. Myers, a recruit from Baltimore, Md., was AU's leading scorer with 17 points. He also had five rebounds and two assists in his first outing as a Jaguar. Transfer Rafael Monteiro added 15 points and five rebounds. The Brazilian made several key baskets as AU outscored USC 33-14 in the last 11:40 of the game. Senior guard Aaron Byrd had eight points, including two big three-pointers."It was a great win," veteran Jags' Coach Dip Metress said. "The seniors did a great job leading us."The Gamecocks were led by Hassani Gravett with 18 points and four steals. Tre Campbell added 13 points and three assists.USC played nearly the last 11 minutes without standout center Chris SIlva, who had picked up his fourth foul. Gamecock Coach Frank Martin chose not to play him the rest of the way. Silva finished with only seven points and four rebounds.“Give them credit,” Martin said in the post-game press conference. “Dip, I thought he was coaching for the national championship the way he was running plays and attacking matchups and all that.”The Jags were only down three a halftime (39-36), but saw the Division I Gamecocks jump out to a 58-46 lead with 11:40 to go. But from that point forward, AU outscored the Southeastern Conference team 33-14 to put off the unexpected victory.Williams made a free throw with 3:20 to give Augusta an 67-66 lead, and then junior transfer Monteiro made back-to-back shots for a three-point lead. The Gamecocks regained the lead on two jumpers by Gravett before Monroe, a communication major, gave AU the lead for good.In the opening half, it was the Gamecocks who dominated early. USC started off hot, pulling to a 22-10 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the half.Metress put his team in a 3-2 zone defense early in the game, but after the Gamecocks hit a barrage of three-point attempts, going 4-of-5 early on, so he switched to a man-to-man defense.Playing a tight man, the Jags worked their way back into the game gradually. The Jaguars took their first lead of the game on a three-pointer by Deane Williams for a 29-27 lead with seven minutes left in the half. With the lead changing hands four times in the remaining seven minutes of the half, the Jaguars remained within striking distance at halftime.“We were pretty good on the defensive side of the ball all night,” AU Coach Dip Metress said. “We spend a whole lot of time on it in practice. We did really well on our help-side rotation."The leading scorers for Augusta in the first half were Williams and Myers, who each had eight points to keep the deficit small going into halftime. Williams would struggle with foul trouble, and he played with four fouls the last six-plus minutes.In the second half, the Gamecocks once again started hot going on a 13-to-4 run on 5-8 shooting from the field. But the Jaguars responded with a run of their own 14-to-6 to respond and bring the Gamecock lead down to only two with 09:02 left in the game. With the game close throughout the second half junior Rafael Monteiro scored four straight points to shift the momentum and tie the game at 66. The Jaguars then took the lead for the first time in the second half with a free-throw to give the Jaguars the 67-66 lead with 3:20 left in the game.But the Gamecocks were not letting up. Senior guard Hassani Gravett took over late scoring the Gamecocks last six points to give the Gamecocks the 72-71 lead with only 1:17 left in the game. The Jaguars took advantage of great opportunities late offensively going 4-of-6 from the field in the last four minutes, and they used tight defense and solid rebounding to give the Jaguars momentum late. That’s when Monroe pushed the Jaguars ahead at 73-72 with 37 seconds left in the game.
Myers, the freshman from Baltimore, Md., went 4-for-4 from the free throw line to extend the Jaguar lead to 77-72 with only three seconds left to ice the game for the visiting Jaguars.“We were not very good at practice this week,” USC Coach Frank Martin said. “There are a few new guys on our team, and I am still trying to figure some things out."The Gamecocks were cold from the free-throw line all night, making only 17 of 30 (the Jags were 12 of 23). Both teams had 16 turnovers. The smaller Jaguars won the boards battle 40-37.The Jaguars begin their 2018-2019 regular season on Nov. 9 against Mount Olive in the Barton College 45 Second Classic in Wilson, N.C. Tipoff is at 5 p.m.Summary:AUGUSTA (77) — Monroe 3-8 2-7 0-0 8, Barlund 0-0 0-0 2-2 2, Williams 6-17 2-5 2-4 16, Byrd 3-10 2-8 0-0 8, Arnold 1-10 0-4 0-0 2, Myers 5-5 3-3 4-5 17, Lucas-White 2-3 0-0 3-4 7, Cracknell 0-0 0-0 0-0 0, Monteiro 5-8 0-1 5-8 15, Johnson 1-1 0-0 0-0 2. Totals—26-62 9-28 16-23 77. Assists—11. Turnovers—16. Rebounds—40 (Williams, 13). Blocks—0.SOUTH CAROLINA (72) — Minaya 4-11 2-6 0-0 10, Hasse 2-5 0-2 1-2 5, Silva 2-6 0-0 3-3 7, Lawson 4-8 2-5 2-7 12, Campbell 2-3 1-2 8-9 13, Moss 0-4 0-4 0-0 0, Gravett 6-10 4-7 2-4 18, Koster 2-6 0-0 0-1 7, Bryant 1-2 0-2 0-2 2, Cudd 0-1 0-0 1-2 1. Totals—23-58 9-28 17-30 72. Assists—14 (Campbell 3, Silva 3). Turnovers—16. Rebounds—37 (Williams, 10). Blocks—4.Halftime: USC, 39-36.Attendance: 3,000.Boxscore (from USC Athletics)