Staff reportMiguel Arnold scored 26 points and Tyshaun Crawford 22 to lead the Augusta University men past Flagler College 97-77 in a Peach Belt basketball game at Christenberry Fieldhouse on Saturday, Dec. 21.Earlier, the AU women got 18 points and 13 rebounds from Kennedi Manning to hand Flagler a 61-51 loss.Both Jaguar teams opened the Peach Belt Conference campaign with two victories before the winter break.In the men's game, Augusta (2-0, 7-3) built a 44-29 halftime lead. However, the first half had been close for a while. The Saints (1-1, 5-5) led 16-12 with just under 14 minutes left in the half before AU went on a 30-13 run to close out the half.Flagler got as close as 70-63 in the second half, but a 9-0 run capped by a Crawford hook shot pushed the lead to 79-63 with seven minutes left to effectively to put the game away."It was a good team win," said Dip Metress, the AU coach. "It's good to be going into Christmas 2-0. Now we have to see if we can come back after the break and keep getting better."Arnold made 6 of 11 from beyond the arc and made 10-of-19 shots overall."I've been working every day on my shot," Arnold said. "I thought today could be a big night shooting the ball."Arnold also ran the point when Tyree Myers had to go to the bench with foul trouble."Coach has given me the freedom to run the point," Arnold said, "so I've switched, and I think I am getting better."The sophomore from Miami also made some nice drives and took pull-up jumpers.
Crawford, the 7-footer, also had 11 points, two blocks and two steals for the Jaguars.Senior Rafael Monteiro had 15 points and 11 boards to complement Crawford's strong night in the post. Darren Lucas-White continued his fine play with 13 points, five rebounds and five assists.Augusta shot 52 percent from the field for the game and held the Saints to a 44-percent mark. AU outrebounded its opponent 42-28.Flagler was led by Gedi Juozapaitis with 21 points, including a 4-for-4 night on three-pointers. Damerit Brown added 20 for the Saints.Metress had moved into first place in all-time AU wins at 344 with the victory over Georgia Southwestern on Dec. 19. That moved him out of a tie with the late Marvin Vanover for first place on the career wins list."It just means I have been lucky enough to be here a long time," Metress said of his moving to the top of the Jags' career wins list.In the women's game, Kiera Howard gave Manning plenty of support with 14 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals. Ashleigh Boulin had six points and five rebounds for the Jaguars (2-0, 5-5).Scout Frame led Flagler (0-2, 2-6) with 13 points and nine rebounds.AU's next outing will not be until Jan. 4 when both teams play at Clayton State. Seven of the next nine games will be on the road for the Jags.