Arnold answers his regional game winner with a 33-point outing, advancing the Jaguars to Final Four
By Chris Rickerson | Sports editor
EVANSVILLE, Ind.—After he hit a game winner to advance the Augusta University men’s basketball team to the Elite Eight, guard Miguel Arnold dropped 33 points to send the Jaguars to the NCAA Division II Final Four, winning over Chico State 81-69 in overtime on Tuesday, March 22, at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind.
It was third-seeded AU’s 18th straight win and propels them into the national semifinals against second-seeded Indiana University of Pennsylvania. This is AU’s third visit to the Final Four in program history.
“It feels great,” Arnold said after his latest Jaguar heroics. “My teammates keep trusting me. They believe in me to shoot the ball.”
Before the quarterfinal game, West Regional champ Chico State (22-5) ranked second in Division II against the 3-point shot. Augusta finished 11 of 22 from behind the arc, including Arnold’s 7-of-10 performance. The San Juan, Puerto Rico, native became the ninth player in tournament history to hit seven 3-pointers in a game.
“I was not worried at all,” Arnold said. “I am not a numbers guy. I don’t ever look at anything. I just go out there and hoop and give my best, and it works every time.”
Both teams started out slowly, not making a single basket until Arnold hit a 3-pointer with 17:47 to go in the first half.
The Jaguars (32-3) held Chico State scoreless until 16:18 to go in the first half when Kelvin Wright Jr. made a layup.
Arnold continued to stay hot early, scoring 11 of the Jaguars’ first 15 points. He finished with 16 points in the first half, shooting 6 of 8 from the field and 4 of 6 on 3-pointers.
The Wildcats fought back, going on 11-2 run to start the second half. Malik Duffy gave the Wildcats a 40-38 lead with a layup with 16:23 remaining in the game.
It was a back-and-fourth battle as there were four lead changes from then on in the second half.
After an 8-0 Chico State run, Arnold and Tyree Myers hit back-to-back treys for Augusta to tie the game 56-56.
With 18 seconds remaining in the second half, AU’s Tyshaun Crawford made a dunk to send the game into overtime, tied 66-66.
Arnold began the overtime period with a 3-pointer, but Malik Duffy answered with a 3-pointer of his own to tie the game at 69-69.
Those were the only points for Chico State in overtime as Augusta ended the game on a 12-0 run, outscoring the Wildcats 15-3 in overtime.
Along with Arnold’s performance, Crawford followed up with 15 points and 14 rebounds in the win. Myers chipped in 15 points and seven assists. Ja’Queze Kirby had 10 points and eight boards.
Chico State standout Duffy led the Wildcats with 23 points and five rebounds in the loss.
“We beat a very good Chico team,” said AU Coach Dip Metress. “Very proud of our guys, and we advance to play an IUP (Indiana University of Pennsylvania) team and all I can tell you; it is going to be like a boxing match. It is not going to be a game for the soft guys.”
In the other quarterfinal matchups, No. 5 Northwest Missouri State defeated No. 4 Bentley 61-43. No. 8 Black Hills State upset undefeated No. 1 Nova Southeastern 77-67. Northwest Missouri State and Black Hills State will now meet in one half of the Final Four on Thursday, March 24, at 4 p.m. eastern time at the Ford Center.
Indiana University of Pennsylvania defeated Hillsdale 67-55 to move on to play Augusta in the other half of the Final Four, also on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The winners of the two matchups will meet in the Championship on Saturday, March 26 at 3:00 p.m.
The national final will be televised live by CBS on Saturday afternoon.
The Jaguars now own 32 wins, the most in a single season in program history.
Contact Chris Rickerson at crickerson@augusta.edu.
AU guard Darren Lucas-White (11) drives inside against two Chico State defenders in Tuesday night’s Elite Eight overtime win. At the top of the page, Miguel Arnold (5) makes one of his seven 3-pointers in the game. (photos by Madison Keel)
Ja’Queze Kirby goes for the open layup as he finished with 10 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocks. (photo by Madison Keel)
