By Leeroy Francis Jr. |Sports editorSitting right in the thick of the Peach Belt Conference basketball race, the Jaguar men are putting Augusta back on the map. With several home routs of some of the PBC middle tier and nail-biting losses to PBC elites UNC Pembroke and USC-Aiken, the Jaguars have the team to go deep in the league tourney.Led by the three seniors in Deane Williams, Tyvez Monroe and Aaron Byrd and the guidance of 15th-year Coach Dip Metress, the Jaguars have assembled a team that can pretty much do it all: Defend against the hottest shooters, attack the rim, keep a game close when behind, or ride the wave and separate from the competition. This Jags' team has created a formula this season that makes them a serious threat to every team in the league.Heading into Wednesday’s matchup with the Flagler in St. Augustine, Fla., Augusta sits in a tie for third with Francis Marion in the Peach Belt standings at 10-3, one and a half games behind UNC Pembroke and two and a half games behind NCAA Division II No. 4 USC Aiken. The Jaguars have been holding their own throughout the season with a 14-5 record overall. Two of the three PBC losses have been close defeats, to UNC Pembroke on Jan. 16, 93-88, and a heartbreaking home loss to USC Aiken on Jan. 30, 79-76.The Jaguars are winners of eight of their last 10 games and are finding their groove offensively. Metress's offensive approach finds his players moving on the floor effectively without the ball, and when a Jaguar is open, he can knock down jumpers at a moderate or better clip. This strategy seems to hold game in and game out, and it shows. In a close matchup at Francis Marion on Jan. 23, the Jags started with an early 18-4 run and led wire-to-wire, as the Patriots, even with a late-game rally, lost by five to AU. The Jags can also run away with games with hot shooting as it showed with the 52-33 second-half performance in the 29-point rout of Lander on Feb. 2.The Jaguars are now on a part of the schedule where they are facing opponents sitting in spots seven through 12 in the PBC standings. That's until Feb. 20 when they have a key matchup against Francis Marion at Christenberry Fieldhouse. AU won the first game between the two back on Jan. 23. Defeating the Jaguars who boast an impressive 8-2 record at home is no easy task for any team in the PBC.With a chance to move ahead of Francis Marion for the third spot in the Peach Belt Conference on Wednesday night against Flagler, the Jaguars are coming down the homestretch leading the conference in defensive points per game, only allowing opponents an average of 71.7 points per contest. The Jaguars fit the mantra of “defense first basketball." Metress and his team, after a tough road game at Bowie State where the Jags lost 62-55, had a “come to Jesus” practice where the coach and his staff decided that the players who defended the best in practice were the guys who would start. Since Bowie State, the Jaguars are 11-3 and fighting for position at the top of the PBC standings.Looking ahead toward the Peach Belt tourney (March 6 -10), the top eight seeds in the conference at the end of the regular season will advance to the tournament. The Jaguars are focused on a top-4 seed. Seeded that high, the Jags will start the tournament at Christenberry Fieldhouse for their quarterfinal matchup with a lower seed seed (right now it would be No. 7 or 8 seed).Currently, a game behind UNC Pembroke for the second seed, the Jaguars should continue to follow Metress’s game plan. With a squad filled with veteran leadership and hungry freshman, it is shaping up to be an exciting run toward the league tournament.PBC seeding is crucial assuming all top four seeds advance to the semifinals of the PBC tournament. The PBC semifinal games will play the semifinals and finals at the site of the highest remaining men's seed, so with the current standings do the Jaguars want to play nationally ranked USC Aiken in nearby Aiken again where they will play on Feb. 27 or would they rather face UNC Pembroke in North Carolina where the Braves will have the decided home-court advantage?This Jaguar team has the skills to compete with any team, at any venue and in any situation. AU will find a way to victory and the last few weeks of this regular season can show just that. If you don’t believe me, ask the University of South Carolina. Contact Leeroy Francis Jr. at LFRANCIS@augusta.edu.