AU men rout Georgia College behind Crawford's career game

By Carlos Rodriguez and Madison Keel | Sports writers

The No. 14 ranked Augusta University men’s basketball team defeated Georgia College 86-61 on Saturday, Feb. 4, in a Peach Belt Conference basketball game at Christenberry Fieldhouse on Military Appreciation Day.

Tyshaun Crawford had 35 points, five rebounds and three blocks for the Jaguars (10-2, 19-3). It was a career-high in scoring for the 7-foot-1 senior center from Griffin. 

“Tyshaun’s development has been gradual but phenomenal,” said AU Coach Dip Metress. “He went from a guy who didn’t like to practice to an engaged practice player every day.  If you look at his FT percentage from his first year to now, you can tell he has spent time in the gym. As a back-to-the-basket post, he is an endangered species, and he has played at an extremely high level.”

For his efforts, Crawford was named Peach Belt Conference player of the week. He had scored 23 points in an 80-76 win over North Georgia on Feb. 1. For the week, he shot 77 percent from the field.

Miguel Arnold, Demitri Gardner and David Viti each scored 10 points for the Jaguars. 

Georgia College (7-14, 3-9) was led by Ian Davis who scored 15 points, followed by Austin Sloan and Brendan Rigsbee with 11 points each. 

The Jaguars quickly took control of the game, jumping out to an 11-point lead by the 13:24 mark, after Chris Britt knocked down a 3-pointer to go up 20-9. 

AU’s Ja’Queze Kirby got a steal and went across the court to throw dunk a windmill dunk, pushing the Jags lead to 20.  

Augusta’s largest lead of the game was 33, coming after Crawford knocked down a pair of free throws, giving the Jaguars a 53-20 lead with 1:46 left. 

A dominant half allowed AU to head into the locker room up 55-27. They held the Bobcats to shoot only 30.77-percent from the field. The Jags shot 60.71-percent from the field and 66.7-percent from 3-point range.

“We were very active on the defensive side of the ball,” said Metress. “Our hands and help caused numerous issues in the first half and lead to some transition buckets. Considering that (senior guard) Darren Lucas-White didn’t play, I was pleased with our perimeter defense.”

Lucas-White sat out the game with a left ankle sprain. He said he plans to play on Wednesday night, Feb.8, when AU will play at Lander.

Georgia College narrowly outscored Augusta 34-31 in the second half, but the Jaguars strong first half along with matching up fairly in the second half led them to the win. 

In the women’s game, Georgia College won 55-48. Tomiyah Alford led AU with 13 points, followed by Autumn Phillips and Kiera Howard with 12 each. Harper Vick of Georgia College (5-7, 13-9) scored 13 points.

Alford also led the Jaguars (6-6, 13-9) in free throw attempts, making 5 of 6. Kiera Howard garnered the only 3-pointer for AU in the game.

The Bobcats won the game at the line, making 17 of 23. The Jaguars shot 9 of 10 from the stripe. The Jaguars shot only 35.2 percent from the field.

The game was even through three quarters, but Georgia College won the fourth—and the game—with an 18-11 run.

The AU women are now in fifth place in the Peach Belt Conference.

The Jaguar women will play at Lander on Wednesday, Feb., 8 at 5:30 p.m. The men’s game will follow at 7:30.

The Augusta teams will return home to Christenberry Fieldhouse on Saturday, Feb. 11, to host Young Harris University. The women tip off at 1:30 p.m. with the men at 3:30.

Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carrodriguez@augusta.edu; contact Madison Keel at mkeel@augusta.edu.

Demitri Gardner (C) goes up for two of his 10 points in the Jaguars’ 86-61 win over Georgia College. At the top of the page, Miguel Arnold (5) had 10 points and four steals for the Peach Belt Conference leaders. (photos by Madison Keel)

Autumn Phillips (L) had 12 points and six rebounds in AU’s 55-48 loss to Georgia College in Peach Belt Conference women’s action. (photo by Madison Keel)