By Leeroy Francis Jr. |Sports editorThe Augusta University Jaguars concluded 2018 on the road, falling in a close game by a 65-62 score at North Georgia on Wednesday, Dec. 19.Earlier, in their first Peach Belt Conference road game of the 2018-19 season on Monday, Dec. 17, at Young Harris College, the Jaguars cruised to an 81-70 victory over the Mountain Lions. AU had four players score in double figures, with freshman Miguel Arnold leading the team with 22 points. Arnold hit six three-pointers and was a perfect 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. Junior Rafael Monteiro added 17 points and eight rebounds, senior Tyvez Monroe picked up 10 points and four boards, and sophomore Troy Cracknell scored 15 off the bench.After defeating Young Harris (2-2, 4-6), the Jaguars traveled 40 miles south to visit North Georgia to finish off the 2018 portion of the 2018-19 season. In a closely contested game, the Jaguars led for nearly three-quarters of the game behind the hot shooting of junior Monteiro, who scored 15 points in the first half, going 7-of-9 from the field and adding four rebounds, to lead the Jaguars to a 38-32 cushion at halftime. North Georgia led by two early, but Augusta responded with a 19-10 run in 10 minutes to have its largest lead of the game of 11 with 1:11 left in the half.In the second half, the Jaguars continued to lead through the first nine minutes of the half, but the Nighthawks grabbed the lead at 50-49 with only 10:54 left on a layup from Tyler Dean.With the game locked at 53 with just over five minutes to play, North Georgia (1-2, 6-3) drilled a three-pointer and forced a turnover on the next AU possession that led to a fast-break dunk and a quick five-point lead.Later, senior Tyvez Monroe drilled two three-pointers to move Augusta within a point with 3:47 left in the game. However, North Georgia made key free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.Monteiro had 19 points and six rebounds to lead the Jaguars. Senior Deane Williams delivered 13 points and 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season, while Monroe tallied 12 points, including 4 of 4 from the line.The Jaguars narrowly edged the Nighthawks in shooting from the field at 35.5 to 35.4 percent, but the Nighthawks outrebounded the Jaguars 37-34 and outscored the Jaguars 12-2 on second-chance points.The Jaguars (2-1, 6-3) will host Clayton State University on Jan. 5 at 3:30 p.m. at Christenberry Fieldhouse. Contact Leeroy Francis Jr. at lfrancis@augusta.edu