By Carlos Rodriguez |Sports writerBehind senior Rafael Monteiro’s 26 points and sophomore Miguel Arnold’s 23, the Augusta University men’s basketball team defeated the University of North Georgia on the road 92-65 on Wednesday night, Feb. 19.The Jaguars (18-7, 13-4) increase their winning streak to seven games and are tied for second place in the Peach Belt with USC Aiken. Both teams sit one game behind first-place UNC Pembroke (14-3).Monteiro recorded a double-double, grabbing 13 rebounds in addition to his 26 points. Arnold went five of his seven three-point attempts en route to his 23 points. Tyshaun Crawford posted his 12th double-double of the season, scoring 13 points and grabbing 11 boards.“They played man-to-man the entire game, so I was able to get some easy points in the post,” said Monteiro. “My teammates did a great job of setting me up on cuts and dump downs.”Although the final score was a 27-point bulge, the Jags were only up by two at the half. A dominant performance in the second half led the way to the blowout win.In the first half, AU started the game off with an 8-0 run. Arnold scored the first basket, hitting a three with 18:59 remaining. Monteiro hit a three shortly after then Arnold followed that with a layup through contact to give the Jags an 8-0 lead with 17:18 left.UNG got on board after Bailey Minor hit a three-pointer with 16:23 to go. Junior Troy Cracknell stole a loose ball and threw down a two-handed dunk to give AU a 16-8 lead with 11:56. North Georgia’s KJ Jenkins trimmed AU’s lead to three after knocking down a jumper to cut the lead to 21-18. The Jags stretched their lead to 13 after Arnold knocked down a three-pointer with 5:54 remaining to give Augusta a 34-21 lead.
With under five minutes to play, Monteiro converted on a layup to give AU a 38-23 lead. Despite the 15-point deficit, the Nighthawks managed a 16-1 run to tie things up at 39 after Josh Cotrell connected on a wide open three-pointer with under a minute left in the half. Arnold answered back with a floater inside the lane, giving the Jags a 41-39 lead heading into halftime. Arnold led in scoring with 15 first-half points while Monteiro added 12.“I told them at halftime to play for each other,” said AU Coach Dip Metress. “We are in the midst of competing for a championship, and every win counts.”In the second half, Arnold got things started, hitting his fourth three-pointer of the game in the opening minute. Arnold hit his fifth three of the night with 17:18 left to give Augusta a 53-41 lead.“Miguel picked up his energy on the defensive end of the floor and it translated to success on the other end of the floor,” said Metress.The Jags quickly continued to increase their lead as Darren Lucas-White knocked down a pull-up jumper, giving AU a 64-43 lead with 13:40 left to play. With three minutes to go junior Shawn Moss gave Augusta a 29-point lead after knocking down a three-pointer. In the final minute of play, Freshman Anthony Torelli gave the Jaguars a 30-point lead, their biggest of the game, after hitting a corner three-pointer to increase the score to 92-62. UNG’s Zez Steeple hit a three the next play to end the game.In the loss, UNG (13-12, 8-9) was led by Zach Brown who scored 19 points.In the second half, Augusta outscored North Georgia 51-26 and held the Nighthawks to shooting 25-percent from the field. The Jags shot 55.6-percent from the field and 57.9-percent from the three-point line the whole game.“We were locked in on defense the whole time,” said Monteiro on the Jags second-half performance. “We were able to get easy points out of the defense and get a good lead.”Exactly a year ago around this time, the men’s team had also just won its seventh straight game. That team went on to win the Peach Belt Conference Championship and extended their win streak to 16 games before losing in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional Championship.“It’s nice to be playing well, especially late,” said Metress. “Momentum is important late in the year.”Monteiro believes during this win streak the team has increased its efficiency on defense by “playing more team defense, and helping each and every day,” he saidThe Jaguars have three more regular season home games at Christenberry Fieldhouse before the PBC tournament. The Jaguars will host their homecoming game against Young Harris on Saturday, Feb.22, at 3:30 p.m. On Wednesday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m., they host USC Aiken and wrap their season up on Senior Day against Georgia College on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 3:30 p.m.In the women’s game Wednesday evening, the Jaguars were defeated 81-60. North Georgia (22-3, 15-2) were led by Julianne Sutton who scored a game-high 24 points. Augusta (9-16, 6-11) were led by junior Zairya West who scored 19 points. Freshman Kennedi Manning and senior Camryn Wilson scored 10 points each.The Jaguars are back in action on Saturday, Feb. 22, at Christenberry Fieldhouse at 1 p.m. to host Young Harris for the first of their last three regular season games.
Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carlosjr521@gmail.com.