AU men’s basketball starts off the season 2-0 at 45 Second Classic

By Carlos Rodriguez | Co-editor in chief

The Augusta University men’s basketball team picked up two double-digit wins at the 45 Second Classic hosted by Barton College. 

On Friday Nov. 12, the Jaguars defeated Mount Olive 83-65, followed by a 100-79 win over Barton the next day. 

Leading the Jags Friday night was junior Miguel Arnold who poured in 30 points, shooting 9-15 from the three-point line. Junior Darren Lucas-White also added 21 points off the bench for AU. 

“Once Miguel made his first three, he was on fire and couldn’t miss,” said AU assistant coach Zachary Tinkham. “Darren is a huge spark for us off the bench that is a tenacious defender and disruptor.”

It was Arnold’s first regular season game in almost a year and he started right where he left off. 

“I’ve been working hard the whole time I’ve been out, so I think that helped me a lot going into the game,” said Arnold. “What helped me going was my teammates. They were finding me every time I was open and most importantly they were telling me to shoot the ball and that’s what I did.”

Junior Tyshaun Crawford made his presence known inside the paint, recording a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds to go along with three blocks.

“Tyshaun dominated the paint,” said Tinkham. “He did a great job of contesting shots at the rim. He is a great offensive weapon and did a great job on the boards.”

In the first half the Jaguars got out to a slow start offensively, as Mount Olive jumped out to a 21-11 lead with 8:06 remaining. AU cut the deficit to as little as three points after Miguel Arnold drilled an and-one three-pointer as they trailed 29-26 with 4:18 remaining. 

Going into the half the Trojans led 33-28 after shooting 41.18-percent from the field while the Jags shot 30-percent.

In the second half Mount Olive jumped out to another 10-point lead after a layup from Donte Johnson to go up 49-39 with 14 minutes left to play. 

Johnson’s basket would be the last field goal from the Trojans in over six minutes as AU took control and went on a 22-1 run. 

The Jaguars run started with 13:42 remaining when Tyshaun Crawford threw down a dunk to cut the lead to 49-41. Lucas-White gave AU their first lead of the game after knocking down a three-pointer to go up 52-49 with 11:27 left. Lucas-White scored 12 of Augusta’s 22 points during the run. 

Mount Olive’s only point of the Jaguars run was off a free throw make by Matthias Caver that trimmed the lead to 52-50 with 11 minutes to go. Crawford capped off the run with two free throws that gave AU a 61-50 lead.

 UMO’s Trayvon Ferrell scored a basket to end the Trojans field goal drought as they trailed AU 61-52 with under eight minutes remaining.

The Jaguars kept on rolling and connecting on shots, stretching their lead to as big as 19 after a Troy Cracknell three-pointer in the final minute. Mount Olive made a free throw in the final seconds to bring the lead back down to 18 as Augusta ran away with the 83-65 victory.

AU completely flipped the switch in the second half improving their first half 30-percent from the field shooting to 58.06-percent in the second half. 

On Saturday afternoon, it was Cracknell who led the way with 22 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Cracknell was big from the free throw line shooting 11-13. 

“First game nothing was falling for me, but I knew as a shooter I had to keep taking those shots because they were going to fall next game,” said Cracknell. “I knew had to be consistent because my team expects me to score, so I can’t have too many off games. But most importantly we won and at the end of the day that’s all I wanted to do.”

Just like Arnold, it was also Cracknell’s first regular-season game in almost a year, as he also had to sit out last season due to medical reasons. 

“It was great to finally be back on the court 100-percent health after two years,” said Cracknell. “I was a little rusty during the first game, but Miguel and Darren had great games and picked up my slack for me. It was a weird feeling of knowing that this game would be my last first game of college basketball which is crazy to think about.”

Tyshaun Crawford recorded another double-double, scoring 21 points and grabbing 10 boards. Like Cracknell, he also had an impressive game from the free throw line, going 9-11. Lucas-White and Arnold added 14 and 12 points respectively. 

Unlike the first game, the Jaguars traded buckets early on with the Bulldogs as both teams exchanged leads nine times within the first 10 minutes. 

After two free throw makes by Cracknell, AU went up 20-18 with 10:06 remaining and would not lose possession of the lead the rest of the way. 

Late in the half AU obtained their first double-digit lead of the game, going up 38-26 after Murray State transfer Ja’Queze Kirby knocked down a three with 3:31 remaining. The final basket of the half came off a three-pointer from Georgia Southern transfer David Viti to give the Jags a 41-32 lead heading into halftime. 

In the half Augusta scorched the nets from the three-point line, shooting 61.54-percent.

During the second half AU jumped out to another double-digit lead after Lucas-White connected on a shot inside the paint, giving the Jaguars a 51-41 lead with 15:53 remaining.

The Bulldogs struggled to cut the lead to single digits as AU continued to knock down shots. With 5:23 left to play Cracknell fed Crawford for a dunk that put Augusta up 86-65.  

Crawford gave the Jags a 25-point lead, their largest of the game, after knocking down two of his nine free throw makes to go up 99-74. 

Barton scored five more points, but senior Jack Johnson capped off the game, knocking down a free throw to crack triple digits for Augusta as they went onto win 100-79.

The Jaguars shot 50-percent from the field and 57.1-percent from three-point range overall. They held Barton to 37.7-percent from the field.

One of the biggest takeaways of the opening weekend was that the Jaguars loved having Cracknell and Arnold back as both had big games to help lead the team.

“The best part about them is they are not selfish and love seeing each other succeed,” said Tinkham. “They work on their game every day and it showed this past weekend.”

Augusta (2-0) will head on the road for their next game on Saturday, Nov. 20, to play against Fayetteville State (1-1) at 2 p.m.

That will be the last game of AU head coach Dip Metress’ three-game suspension for academic violations, as he will join the team on the sidelines for the home-opener against Benedict College on Nov. 23. 

Arnold praised the team for getting the job done without Metress coaching them through it. 

“We didn’t have Dip this weekend for the season opener, so staying together and trusting each other is what we did best.”

 Contact Carlos Rodriguez at CARRODRIGUEZ@augusta.edu.