AU hoops teams sweep North Georgia in key Peach Belt contests
By Carlos Rodriguez | Sports editor
The Augusta University men’s basketball team reclaimed sole possession of first place in the Peach Belt Conference after defeating the University of North Georgia 80-76 on Wednesday night, Feb. 1, at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
The No. 14-ranked Jaguars improved to 9-2 in PBC play and 18-3 overall, while the No. 21-ranked Nighthawks dropped to 7-3 and 14-4.
It was Prostate Cancer Awareness Night, and the Jaguar men dressed in light blue to spotlight research on cancer. AU Coach Dip Metress wore a light blue blazer.
Coming into the game, AU and USC Aiken were tied in the PBC standings, while UNG sat a half game behind them. Aiken suffered a loss to Columbus State on Wednesday night, dropping them behind the Jags for second place and ahead of the Nighthawks.
“We’re in first place, and that means something,” said Metress. “When you’re in first place in February, that’s a good sign.”
Augusta was led by their two season-leading scorers in Tyshaun Crawford and Miguel Arnold. Crawford finished with 23 points and seven rebounds, and Arnold added 20 points. Crawford currently leads the PBC in scoring at 21.2 points per game, while Arnold is third with 17.4.
North Georgia was led by the second-leading scorer in the conference Frank Champion, who posted 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He’s the current conference leader in rebounds. AJ White added 18 points.
“We post doubled him (Champion),” said Metress. “We tried to not let him get deep catches the second half and caused a couple of turnovers on that.”
The top-25 matchup lived up to expectations with both teams trading blows and making runs. When one team seemed to get going and attempt to put it out of reach, the other would find a way to come right back.
UNG started the game with five straight points but was answered by two layups from Crawford. However, Crawford quickly picked up two fouls, sending him to bench after only two minutes of play.
The Jags were without Timmy Sellers, who has a knee problem, forcing AU to play a smaller lineup with 6-foot-5 David Viti coming off the bench for Crawford.
By the 11:31 mark, AU was up 20-16 after Arnold knocked down a 3-pointer. Crawford came back in the game and was effective immediately, scoring two consecutive times on contact dunks to push the lead to 28-22 with 5:55 remaining.
Despite the Jags clicking on all cylinders, here came the Nighthawks as they sparked a 10-0 run in less than two minutes, going up 32-28 with 4:12 remaining. An and-one layup by Giancarlo Bastianoni propelled the run, while Champion closed the run out the same way it started, converting an and-one layup.
“We missed some shots we thought would go in, and we didn’t sprint back,” said Metress. “Those transition buckets hurt us.”
Ja’Queze Kirby answered right away, making two 3-pointers in 20 seconds for the Jags, regaining the lead at 34-32 with 3:28 left. Kirby finished with 13 points.
The lead was exchanged a few more times, and UNG went up at the half after Bastianoni made a layup before time expired, giving the Nighthawks a 39-38 lead.
Early in the second half, Champion got a steal and broke loose to dunk it and give the Nighthawks a 45-40 lead. The Jags cut the lead to one after Crawford found Viti open under the basket as he rose up and dunked it for a 48-47 UNG edge with 15:12 remaining.
A 3-pointer by Arnold tied the game up at 56, and Tyree Myers followed it up with a jumper from the left wing to put the Jags ahead 58-56 at the 11:05 mark.
After the Jags were only up by one, Viti knocked down a big 3-pointer, his second of the night, halting UNG’s momentum and putting AU up 71-67.
“Viti did not make shots early, but they were all good shots,” said Metress. “He was kind of mad at himself but came out in the second half and banged a couple of shots. We have to get everybody but Miguel to understand if they miss a shot, they can take the next one.”
Augusta looked comfortable late game as the Jaguars increased their lead to 10 with 3:04 remaining, after a jumper and two free throws by Arnold gave them a 79-69 lead.
It seemed to be like the Nighthawks were out of gas, but the tank sure enough didn’t read empty as they fought back to cut the game to a single possession with 1:04 left. With the help of two big shots by Hunter Shedenhelm and free throws from AJ White, UNG found themselves down three and possession of the ball with 31 seconds on the clock after forcing a shot clock turnover on the Jags.
“I screwed up late; we were up and we got bad possessions—that’s partly my fault, and we didn’t recognize the shot clock,” said Metress.
White had the ball in his hands as the time wind down, looking for a scoring opportunity, but failed as a panic layup attempt was swatted by Crawford, who quickly gave it up to Myers who eventually was fouled and sent to the line with 11 seconds left.
Myers missed the first attempt but knocked down the second to put Augusta up 80-76 which would go on to be the final score.
AU guard Darren Lucas-White suffered a left ankle injury late in the game that hurt the Jags’ defensive presence during North Georgia’s run.
Lucas-White, the 6-1 senior from Capitol Heights, Md., said after the game it was an ankle sprain, and it’s being determined how long he’ll be out for.
AU shot 57.7-percent for the game while UNG shot 48.3-percent. Both teams were even on the glass, pulling down 28 rebounds. The Jaguars’ nine 3-point makes edged out the Nighthawks’ seven makes.
Earlier, the Jaguar women ended a 12-game losing skid to North Georgia with a 72-61 victory.
With the triumph, the AU women, just 5-19 all-time against North Georgia, moved into a five-way tie for second place in the PBC. Augusta has only beaten the Nighthawks three times in 12 tries at Christenberry.
Center Kennedi Manning surpassed the 1,000-point mark in her college career on a 14-point night for her. Three others were in double figures for AU (6-5, 13-8), including Kiera Howard with 16, Tomiyah Howard with 15 and Autumn Phillips with 12.
Caroline Martin led the Nighthawks with 20 points. Niyah Lutz added 14 points.
North Georgia (6-5, 14-6) led 32-24 at the half, but Augusta outscored the visitors 48-29 in the second half.
“After that start, we talked about being composed,” said AU interim coach Celeste Stewart. “We knew that they would make a run, but how we would respond to it was critical. We shortened the lead up at the end of the second quarter, and then there was a belief that we could make it happen.”
And they did just that. AU outscored UNG 19-14 in the third and 29-14 in the fourth.
The Jaguars’ next matchup will be against Georgia College. The women will tip off at noon, with the Bobcats coming it at 4-7 in the league and 12-9 overall. The women’s game will be followed by the AU men against the Bobcat men (3-8, 7-13) at 2 p.m. in Christenberry Fieldhouse. It will be Military Appreciation Day.
Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carrodriguez@augusta.edu.
Miguel Arnold (5) goes up for two of his 20 points in the AU men’s 80-76 win over North Georgia. At the top of the page, Tyshaun Crawford muscles to the basket, as he led all Jaguars with 23 points as Augusta regained sole possession of first place in the Peach Belt Conference. (photos by Madison Keel)
Kennedi Manning (24) shoots home two of her 14 points in the AU women’s victory over UNG. Manning surpassed 1,000 points for her career against the Nighthawks. (photo by Madison Keel)
