AU men take sole possession of fourth place; Jaguar women stay in first
By Justin Gray | Sports editor
This Valentine’s Day was full of love and wins if you’re an AU Jaguar as the Jags dominated Flagler 84-68 at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
The last time these two faced off, it got ugly fast for the Jaguars, who fell 75-62 and were never in the game.
“It got really personal on the road trip home from Flagler,” said AU Coach Dip Metress. “I told them this is not how we play basketball here.”
Whatever clicked in the minds of the Jaguar players has made all the difference, as they have won six of their last seven, including two top-25 victories and now sit alone in fourth place in the Peach Belt Conference.
This game, the Jaguars flipped the script on Flagler.
Things stayed tight for the first 10 minutes of the first half, but after that the Jaguars turned it on, going on an 11-0 run, taking a 31-16 lead with 7:57 remaining in the half.
The Jaguars continued that momentum going into half with a 43-33 lead.
After the break, they came out determined to put this game to bed, knocking down shot after shot.
Ja’Queze Kirby nailed a three-pointer with 12:34 that gave the Jaguars their biggest lead of the game (17), but more importantly that gave him his 1,000th career point, a mark hit by only 37 other players in program history.
The Jaguars rolled on to another big conference win thanks to the second half play from Timmy Sellers and Demitri Gardner.
The Jaguars were paced by Kirby, who amid hitting the milestone, scored 22 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and dished out four assists, an all-around masterclass. He knocked down 5 of 8 from 3-point range and 6 over 12 from the field overall.
“I just wanted to make sure I got it done and got the 1,000 points,” said the Hazlehurst native. “We as a team made a lot of shots tonight, that was one of our biggest strengths.”
Gardner followed him with another 20-point game, the third time he has hit that mark in four games. He also grabbed six rebounds.
Three more Jag players scored in double figures in David Viti (12), John St. Germain III (12) and Timmy Sellers (10).
Sellers played more minutes (20) than usual because of Max Amadasun getting into foul trouble throughout. Sellers, the senior from Augusta, was a huge part of this win, shooting perfect from the field while grabbing three rebounds.
“I wanted to play a lot tougher against them this time,” said the Glenn Hills product. “Last time we went down there we made a lot of mistakes that led to a lot of points for them.”
The Jaguars made a lot of mistakes during this blowout win, turning the ball over 19 times.
Augusta was able to combat that with elite shooting. They shot 50.9 percent from the field and 47.6 from the field.
“We were able to get a win,” said Coach Metress. “Besides the turnovers, we were able to stick to our game plan and get the win.”
The Jaguars are rolling right now and have been the most dangerous team in the PBC over the last three weeks. They now have a 14-9 record overall and 7-6 in the conference.
Flagler (6-7, 13-10) was led by Omar Figueroa and Jalen Barr with 18 points each.
Next up is a battle with Georgia Southwestern on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 3:30 p.m. It will also be Homecoming at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
Earlier, Tomiyah Alford had 22 points and Autumn Phillips 21 to lead the AU women to a 73-59 win over the Saints at Christenberry, as the Jaguar hoops teams completed the Valentine’s Day sweep.
Augusta, which has won six straight, shot 43 percent and held Flagler to a 32-percent shooting clip.
The Jaguar women (11-2, 17-6) remain tied for first with Georgia Southwestern (11-2, 18-3), whom AU will host on Saturday, Feb. 17, at 1:30 p.m. Both AU and GSW are 11-2 in the PBC.
The Hurricanes won the first matchup 74-56 in Americus on Jan. 20.
Contact Justin Gray at jusgray@augusta.edu.
David Viti (7) drives to the basket for Augusta on a night when he had 12 points and six rebounds. At the top of the page, Ja’Queze Kirby (3) became the 38th Jaguar to reach the 1,000-point mark in his career; Kirby had 22 points and 11 boards in the 84-68 win over Flagler at Christenberry Fieldhouse. (photos by Paul Toole, AU Athletics)
Demitri Gardner (2) goes to the hoop on a running jump shot for the Jaguars; Gardner scored 20 points as AU avenged its loss in Florida last month. (photo by Paula Toole, AU Athletics)
