By Leeroy Francis |Staff writer
The Augusta University men’s basketball team finished the regular season by defeating Lander University 87-74 on Saturday, Feb. 24 to finish the season with a 16-12 record on Senior Day.Finishing the season on a three-game winning streak, the Jaguars will host rival USC-Aiken in a Peach Belt Conference quarterfinal game at Christenberry Fieldhouse Feb. 28. At 7:30 p.m.Earlier, the AU women’s team fell to Lander by a 101-74 score.In the men’s contest, the opening half at Christenberry went well for the Jags. Scoring 44 points on 17 for 37 (45.9 percent) from the field and 6 of 9 from the free-throw line, the Jags were up by as many as 19 points midway through the first half after a Shawn Moss three-pointer.Lander mounted a comeback by shooting high-percentage shots, and the Bearcats cut the Jaguars’ lead to eight at halftime.Senior forward Kyle Doyle’s 10 first-half points on 4-for-4 shooting from the field and five rebounds helped the Jags to a 44-36 lead through 20 minutes.The Jags’ shooting percentage slightly improved in the second half, and that helped separate them from the Bearcats. AU shot 6 of 8 from the field down the stretch to eventually seal the game.The Jags started the second half of play on a 7-3 run to start off the half, but Lander responded by scoring nine points from the three-point line to cut the deficit to only four with 14:48 left to play.With 10:03 left in the game, the Bearcats took their first lead in the contest since the 16:39 mark in the first half with a layup by junior Jordan Dingle. However, the Jags quickly regained the lead with 8:57 left in the game on a layup by senior Tamyrik Fields. That gave the Jags a 66-65 lead, which would continue to grow as the game hit its final minutes.AU used the hot three-point shooting to close the game out, going 4 of 5 behind the arc in the last 10 minutes, and the Jags cruised to the 13-point victory.With the win, the Jaguars swept the season series against Lander and are now looking toward the PBC Tournament on Feb. 28.The visiting Bearcats were led by senior guard Nicklas Jonsson, who had 17 points, three rebounds, and two assists, but it just was not enough for the Bearcats to pull off the victory at Christenberry. The Bearcats had five players scoring in double digits for the game.The Jaguars played efficient team offense, getting everybody involved and also had five total players scoring in double digits for the game.Deane Williams, Aaron Byrd, and Fields had strong games for the Jags. Byrd and Williams each finished with 19 points to lead all scorers. Byrd added five rebounds and five assists, while Williams added seven rebounds and three assists to add to his 19 points.Fields, who finishes the regular season as the second-leading scorer in the PBC, totaled 18 points, going 8 of 19 from the field, and added eight rebounds.Doyle scored 10 points on 4-5 shooting from the field and added six rebounds, and junior Tyvez Monroe scored 11 points and added six rebounds of his own.Augusta University honored seniors Fields, Doyle, Vlad Cobzaru and Andrew Parker. All four started, along with Byrd, the point guard.With the win on Saturday, the Jags clinched the fourth seed in the Peach Belt Conference with a 13-9 record. USC-A is seeded fifth.In the women’s game, the Jaguars and the Bearcats traded buckets early in the game. The Jaguars led first on a couple of three-pointers from seniors Jahmia Bradley and Ashleigh Outler, but Lander forged ahead with 5:23 left in the first quarter at 23-18.In the second quarter, it was a strong one for the Jags, scoring 22 total points. Seniors Outler and Joshlyn Belcher helped the Jags tie the game at 40-40 at the half.AU went on a small run to start the second half and carried a 50-45 lead with 7:25 left in the third period. Lander stormed to a 66-61 lead going into the fourth quarter. The Bearcats shot lights out in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Jaguars 35-13 in the final quarter to take the 27-point victory at Christenberry.Outler led Augusta with 26, while Belcher and Jahmia added 15 points each.Poor ball handling proved costly for AU. The Jaguars had 24 total turnovers to Landers 15, and the Bearcats made the Jaguars pay, scoring 32 points on those Augusta turnovers.Belcher became the 14th player all-time for the Jaguars to break the 1,000-point barrier with a layup in the second quarter. She finished her career with 1,014 points to rank tied for 13th on the Jaguars’ all-time scoring list. Belcher also led the PBC this season in made three-pointers with 66 in 185 attempts.The Jaguars celebrated seniors Outler, Bradley, Belcher, Cynara Pitt and Tanesha Campbell. In a rebuilding year with a new coach, the Jags finished their season at 4-22 overall record and 2-20 in the conference. Contact Leeroy Francis at lfrancis@augusta.edu