AU wins last regular-season home game against UNG on Senior Night

By Carlos Rodriguez | Co-editor in chief 

The No. 10 ranked Augusta University men’s basketball team pushed its winning streak to 10 games after defeating North Georgia 76-67 on Wednesday, Feb. 23, at Christenberry Fieldhouse. 

AU (14-3, 24-3) hosted their final regular season home game, honoring seniors Troy Cracknell and Jack Johnson for Senior Night.  

“It was an amazing feeling getting to start and just be able to see how much support I had from everyone in attendance,” said Johnson. “It was almost surreal in a sense because I never realized how much support we as players actually have.” 

Cracknell, a graduate student from Huntersville, N.C., spoke about how good it felt to have his family in attendance.  

“They haven’t had the chance to see me play in person that much this year, so it was great having them here for Senior Night,” said Cracknell. 

Tyshaun Crawford led the Jags with 21 points and eight rebounds. Cracknell added 13 points while Tyree Myers had 11.  

The Nighthawks (6-11, 13-13) also had three players in double figures with Malik Hardy leading the way with 19 points. Giancarlo Bastianoni and Frank Champion had 14 and 13 points respectively. 

In the first half the Jaguars suffered from foul trouble. A total of five players had two fouls at the half. 

The game started like most do for the Jaguars with Crawford fighting in the paint and throwing down a dunk.  

Kody Shubert gave the Nighthawks their first lead of the game to go up 7-6 after knocking down a 3-pointer with 14:34 remaining.  

The Jags went on two unanswered runs. The first one was a 9-0 run started by a Crawford dunk and capped off by a shot by Ja’Queze Kirby that put AU up 16-9 with 11:12 in the half.  

The second run was a 7-0 run started by two free throws by Myers, followed by a 3-pointer by Cracknell and ending with a layup by Darren Lucas-White at the 5:49 mark as they led 23-11. 

UNG closed out the half scoring five points in the final minute to cut AU’s lead to 33-25 at the break. 

“We got off to a slow start but we were able to pick it up a bit in the second half,” said Cracknell. 

The Nighthawks came out scoring two straight layups by Champion and Zach Brown, getting within four points of the Jags. 

Crawford gave AU their first double-digit lead of the game after making a jumper to go up 46-36 with 15:18 left. 

Despite slow spurts by the Jaguars, David Viti brought the team and the gym some life after a putback dunk to go up 56-43 with 9:56 remaining. 

Cracknell gave Augusta a 16-point lead, their biggest of the game, after coming out of media timeout and knocking down a jumper to go up 60-44. 

UNG continued to fight back and in less than three minutes cut the 16-point deficit to a five-point game after going on an 11-0 run. A 3-pointer by Hardy cut the lead to 60-55 with 5:02 left to play. 

Both teams exchanged baskets late in the game but the various scores from the Nighthawks was no match for the Jaguars as they succeeded from the free throw line and secured the win. 

Augusta will play their final regular-season game on Saturday, Feb. 26 at Clayton State (8-19, 3-14) at 3:30 pm.  

The matchup will be vital for the Jags to win as they’re trying to maintain their first place position in the Peach Belt standings.  

“As long as we come out strong against Clayton State on Saturday, we will be able to hopefully clinch the No.1 spot in the conference to host the tournament,” said Cracknell. 

In the women’s game, league leader North Georgia pulled away in the last four minutes for a 66-58 victory over AU. The game was tied at 47 with 9:16 left to play, but the Nighthawks outscored the Jaguars 19-11 to close out the game.

North Georgia (15-2, 21-3) was led by Julianne Sutton with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Caroline Martin added 14 points for the 10th-ranked Nighthawks.

Augusta was only down 52-51 with less than four minutes to play, but North Georgia got layups from Sutton and Lacie McCoy for a five-point lead. That was all the separation they needed.

Autumn Phillips led sixth-place AU (7-10, 14-12) with 19 points, and senior Kiera Howard added 12. The Jaguars are likely to play third-place Georgia Southwestern in the first round of the Peach Belt postseason tournament.

Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carrodriguez@augusta.edu.

Darren Lucas-White quarterbacks the Jaguars in the first half of their win over North Georgia. At the top of the page, Tyree Myers (2) sets up David Viti (3) for a 3-pointer. (photos by Madison Keel)

Autumn Phillips had 19 points for the Jaguars, who stayed close to the 10th-ranked Nighthawks until the visitors pulled away at the end. (photo by Madison Keel)