By Caleb Miller |Sports editorThe Augusta Jaguars finished with a narrow five-point win over the Francis Marion Patriots in Wednesday night’s (Jan. 23) game on the road. The stakes were high as the game drew to an end, but Augusta held its position strong and came out with the win.“We knew that they shoot a lot of three-point shots and wanted to take that away,” said Jags' Coach Dip Metress about his pre-game strategy.So they did just that: the Jags held the Patriots to 32.1 percent from three-point territory, as the home team made only nine of its 28 attempts.The Jags opened the first half off strong, keeping the Patriots consistently at a 10-point deficit or more, and AU ended the first half ahead, 39-26.“We wanted to get the ball inside early to establish the low post,” Metress said.The Jags (8-2, 12-4) hit the paint hard, scoring 34 of their 81 points in the paint and securing 34 rebounds.The Patriots held their own in the second half, cutting the Jags' lead to just three, in part due to the Jags' 11 turnovers in the second half. These turnovers and several missed free-throws “let them back in the game,” Metress said.Despite this deficit cut in the second half, the Jags tightened up their defense in the final minutes, keeping the rebounds from the Patriots (8-2, 12-3) and forcing fouls. The Patriots' fouls sent Jags Miguel Arnold and Tyvez Monroe to the free-throw line three times in the final 23 seconds of the game, which ultimately secured the victory.Freshman guard Tyree Myers led the visitors in scoring with 17 points, followed by Arnold with 14, and Rafael Monteiro and Aaron Byrd with 13 points each. Senior forward Deane Williams had 12 points, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.“Road wins are hard to come by, but we must do better closing out games,” Metress said.AU is now in a three-way tie for second place in the Peach Belt Conference with Francis Marion and UNC Pembroke. Looming is a matchup with league leader USC Aiken next Wednesday night (Jan. 30) at Christenberry Fieldhouse.Earlier, the Lady Jags came away from Wednesday with a difficult loss to the Patriots, with a final score of 61-48. The Lady Jags (2-8, 3-13) ended the first two quarters strong and tied at 26-26, but they fell behind in the last half as the Patriots pulled away for the win. Francis Marion outscored AU 35-22 in the second half. Brianna Middleton led AU with 17 points and five rebounds.Both AU teams head to Americus, Ga., for a Saturday, Jan. 26, visit to Georgia Southwestern. Game times are 3:30 p.m. for the women and 5:30 for the men. Contact Caleb Miller at CALMILLER@augusta.edu.