By Tyvez Monroe |Sports writer Game Video from Bell Ringer Media (<--Click Here)Augusta University men's basketball team came up short in a thriller against the Emmanuel College Lions on Thursday, Dec. 5 when Tyonn Stuckey nailed a three-pointer at the buzzer for a 74-71 Lions' victory on the annual Education Day that AU hosts.Emmanuel was solid all day in the game at Christenberry Fieldhouse. Starting early, the Lions built a 13-5 lead in the initial five minutes of play.The Lions (4-5) kept the weight on for their share of the half, never permitting the Jags (4-3) a chance to take the lead. By halftime Emmanuel had a 10-point lead at 35-25.The Lions didn't let up at the start of the half. Their lead stretched to 15 points about five minutes into the half. All of a sudden here came the Jags. Tyshaun Crawford and Rafael Monteiro scored crucial baskets to slice Emmanuel's lead to five with 11:23 to play.AU's Troy Cracknell got an open look, lined it up and took his time with a three-pointer from the corner. And that's when sophomore guard Miguel Arnold caught fire. The Miami, Fla., product then nailed back-to-back threes to cut the lead to 49-47.Emmanuel kicked their offense back up to gain a 58-53 lead with 5:36 left in the second half. The Jaguars' Darren Lucas-White, the PBC Player of the Week, scored on a layup to cut the lead to one.With 1:41 left, Arnold, once more, demonstrated his capability to get hot from the field, knocking in his fifth three-point shot of the game to tie things up 67-67. After two points for Emmanuel, Lucas-White drew a foul with 22 second left. He would sink one of the free throws constraining the Jags to foul to keep their hopes alive.Stuckey then made two free throws to put Emmanuel back up by three. Augusta's Tyree Myers then drove the baseline and found Arnold in the corner. Arnold pump faked, took one dribble, pulled up and sank another one from downtown to tie it with 4.7 seconds to go.Lions' Coach Thomas Rosene called a timeout to set up the final shot. Closely guarded by Lucas-White, Stuckey dribbled down the right side of the floor and pulled up from 30 fee. Stuckey banked his shot off the backboard at the buzzer to win the game. It was the first time that the Jags have lost on Education Day.For the first time in AU hoops history, the referees went to the television monitor from the SUV TV broadcast to make sure that Stuckey released the ball before the light on the backboard went off to signify the end of regulation time. Bruce Benedict, one of the officials, quickly relayed the message that the shot was good. There would be no overtime. Emmanuel had won."They put the ball in Stuckey's hands, and Darren did a great job in defending," said AU Coach Dip Metress afterwards. "Stuckey shot-faked, and we left our feet. Probably it was a thing because was avoided the foul, but then Stuckey banked it in. The basketball gods were with them because we did not deserve to win. We only led for a minute and 13 seconds."For the game, Augusta was led by Arnold, who posted 22 points in the challenge. Arnold shot 8-of-16 from the field, including a 6-for-11 from three-point range. Crawford nearly had a double-double, scoring nine points and gathering in nine rebounds. Monteiro had 10 points and five rebounds. Myers had nine points but was limited due to tweaking of his surgically repaired left knee.Stuckey and Isaiah Foster each had 15 points to lead the Lions. Michael Wright had 14 and Brandon Simpson had 13. Wright had made a key three-pointer in transition in the second half when AU made its fever-pitched run. Foster, a left-handed guard, gave the Jaguars fits all day with his drives and passing. The statistics showed a very close game. Augusta shot 53 percent from the field, compared to 49 percent for Emmanuel. AU outrebounded its opponent 27-25. Both teams had 13 turnovers. The big advantage was at the free throw line where AU made only 10 of 19, but the Lions only missed one of 16.The crowd of mostly Richmond County middle school students was boisterous all day and created a Division I-like atmosphere in Christenberry thanks to the AU cheerleaders.Augusta will face city rival Paine College for their next game on Saturday, Dec. 7, at 7:30 p.m. The women's game starts at 5:30 p.m. Contact Tyvez Monroe at TMONROE@augusta.edu.