Augusta men fall to North Georgia in PBC Quarterfinals, 77-68

Justin Gray | Sports Editor

The Augusta men fell in the quarterfinals of the Peach Belt Conference tournament to North Georgia, 77-68, at Christenberry Fieldhouse on Wednesday, March 5.

This marks the second consecutive season that the Jaguar men have fallen in the first round, with last year’s exit coming at the hands of Flagler.

Augusta led for only 23 seconds in this one, holding a 1-0 lead from the 19:21 mark to the 18:58 mark.

After gaining the brief lead, North Georgia went on an 11-0 run and delivered an early blow to the Jaguars.

AU cut the deficit to two points several times in the first half, but a lackluster finish allowed North Georgia to extend its lead to 14 points, taking a 43-29 advantage into halftime.

After the break, Augusta came out with energy and quickly went on a 15-5 run to shift the momentum.

The teams battled throughout the second half, with North Georgia maintaining a cushion and countering AU’s runs.

AJ White extended North Georgia’s lead to 12 with 3:51 left, but the Jaguars weren’t done fighting.

They cut the deficit to four in less than two minutes, making it a 68-64 game.

If not for White’s heroics, the tone of this article—and the atmosphere at Christenberry Fieldhouse—might have been different. He drilled a step-back mid-range shot to halt Augusta’s momentum and settle his Nighthawk teammates.

From there, North Georgia closed out the game the way teams are supposed to—by securing inbounds passes and making free throws.

White finished with 38 of the Nighthawks’ 77 points, setting a career high.

Several factors contributed to Augusta’s loss, but one of the biggest was the disparity in free throw attempts.

On the surface, North Georgia shot 35 free throws to Augusta’s 16. Even more striking, the Jaguars did not attempt a free throw in the second half until the 3:26 mark, while North Georgia had taken seven by that point.

John St. Germain III, who has had only three games this season without a free throw attempt, did not shoot one. The other three instances came against teams that primarily shoot from beyond the arc and don’t play a physical style—Georgia College, Clayton State and Lander.

“It’s very frustrating,” said the AU point guard. “My game is predicated on getting to the free throw line, getting to the basket. Some games the officiating goes our way, and some it doesn’t. I can’t really blame that for our performance—we still have to get stops and score.”

The Charlottesville, Va., native finished with 13 points, six assists and five steals.

Demitri Gardner, Augusta’s leading scorer this season, once again paced the team with 27 points and three rebounds.

Maximilian Amadasun continued to impress in his senior campaign, posting a double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds.

“There’s a lot of frustration from a game like that, especially when you know you could have left more out there,” said the center from Dublin, Ireland. “We really wanted this win. North Georgia is usually a personal game for us, and we blew it.”

All hope is not lost for Augusta, as the Jaguars entered the week ranked No. 5 in the Southeast regional rankings—a typically safe position.

“We’re fifth in the region,” said Coach Dip Metress. “We’ve gotta chill now. We put it in other people’s hands. We’ve got to put on our cheering caps for the teams that are already seeded.”

Now, Augusta will have to scoreboard-watch this weekend—an unenviable position, but the hand the Jaguars have been dealt.

Here at The Bell Ringer, we will track bid stealers (teams that wouldn’t get an at-large bid but earn an automatic berth by winning their conference tournament) and the results of the three Southeast regional conference tournaments.

We’ll provide updates as the weekend progresses.

Contact Justin Gray at jusgray@augusta.edu.

Top of page: AU’s Demitri Gardner sizes up a North Georgia defender (Photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics).

Top of stack: AU’s Max Amadasun puts up a mid-range jumper versus North Georgia (Photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics).

Middle of stack: North Georgia’s AJ White looks for an open teammate, in route to his career-high 38 points versus AU (Photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics).

Bottom of stack: AU’s John St. Germain III draws contact at the rim versus North Georgia, but SURPRISINGLY was not awarded the foul (Photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics).