AU men defeat Georgia Southwestern 80-70 behind Gardner, Amadasun, Kirby
Justin Gray | Sports editor
In a packed Christenberry Fieldhouse for Homecoming, the Augusta men handled Georgia Southwestern, 80-70, to win their sixth straight game.
The Jaguars (8-6, 15-9) continue to play suffocating defense and make timely shots on the offensive end. as they won for the seventh time in their last eight games. AU is in fourth place in the Peach Belt Conference.
The victory over GWU secured the 25th straight winning season for Augusta.
Unlike most of their games, the Jaguars jumped out to a huge, 17-4 lead on a Carson Seemann 3-pointer.
Augusta then got complacent and allowed the Hurricanes back into the game. As they went into halftime, the Jaguars only led 28-21.
Out of the break, the Jaguars extended their lead to 42-28 thanks to the hot hand of Demitri Gardner.
Things only got uglier from there as with 4:52 remaining in the game, Gardner knocked down two free throws to make it a 73-47 lead for the AU men.
The Jaguars subs came in and Georgia Southwestern was able to bring the lead all the way back to ten before the game ended, but nonetheless, Augusta won another game in the PBC. They also avenged another loss from earlier in the season, the third straight game they have done so.
The Jaguars were led by none other than Demitri Gardner with 19 points. He did that on 6-of-7 shooting from the field and 2-3 from deep. He also grabbed four rebounds and totalled three assists.
“We have been trusting each other more and playing together,” said the Jaguars’ leading scorer. "We have really been dialing in on defense as a team which opens up the offense and it also feels good to get some revenge.”
Behind Gardner was Max Amadasun with 17 points, and he led the team with seven rebounds.
“It feels good to win this many in a row,” said the Jaguars’ 6-foot-10 center. “At the same time, we can’t get too high when we play well because that's when complacency comes in. I had a fire lit under me because I didn’t play well against them last time, and that’s been on my mind for a month.”
Ja’Queze Kirby had 15 points and five boards for AU.
The Jaguars shot 52 percent from the field in the win, while holding Georgia Southwestern to only 41.1 percent.
The Hurricanes only shot it 27.3 percent from behind the arc. This was the third straight team Augusta has held under 35 percent.
“It’s a mindset of being able to guard your guy one on one,” said AU Assistant Coach Zach Tinkham. “We’re closing out with our hands up, not down, and we’re taking pride in getting stops.”
GSW was led by a trio of guys, Justin Monden, De’Ante Petree and Jaylen Jordon, who all had 11 points.
This has been a different Augusta team in the second half of their conference schedule. The Jaguars have dominated and played hard every time on the floor.
Things get tougher next week as they go on the road to face No. 19 Lander on Wednesday, Feb. 21. Tipoff will follow the women’s game. Lander is tied for first place in the PBC, but the Bearcats lost to Georgia College on Saturday.
Augusta is two games behind USC Aiken for third place in the standings.
Now on to the AU women, who lost to Georgia Southwestern, 68-57, in a battle for first place in the conference.
It was the Jaguars’ second loss to the Hurricanes this season. GSW now has a game lead on AU in the PBC women’s regular-season race. There are four games left in the regular season.
The first quarter was neck and neck all the way through, but Southwestern took a 20-18 lead as the time expired.
Georgia Southwestern dominated the second quarter only allowing six points and scoring 14 of its own. The Hurricanes (12-2, 18-3) led 34-24 at the break.
The third quarter continued in the way of the Hurricanes as they took a 16-point lead over Augusta. The Jaguars (11-3, 17-7) fought back and cut the lead to 48-40 at the end of the quarter.
The Jaguars cut the deficit to five in the fourth, but were never able to get past that as they lost a game for the first time this month.
Mone Florence continued her hot streak leading the Jaguars with 20 points. Autumn Phillips and Tomiyah Alford followed with 11 points each.
Georgia Southwestern was led by Destiny Garrett with 19 points. Right after her was Jashanti Simmons with 18.
The Jaguars will have to flush this one and get ready for a tough Lander team, who beat the Jaguars at Christenberry the first time around. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 21.
Contact Justin Gray at jusgray@augusta.edu.
AU’s Kennedi Manning (24) battles with Georgia Southwestern’s Kayla Langley (24) for the ball. At the top of the page, Max Amadasun slams home two of his 17 points in the Jaguars’ 80-70 win over the Hurricanes. (photos by Paula Toole, AU Athletics)
AU’s Demitri Gardner (2) totaled 19 points to lead all scorers as the fourth-place Jaguars won for the seventh time in their last eight outings. They face key games at Lander and North Georgia next week. (photo by Paula Toole, AU Athletics)
