Crawford, Arnold lead AU men to PBC Tournament title
By Carlos Rodriguez | Sports editor
The top-seeded Augusta University men’s basketball team defeated fourth-seeded Lander University, 86-72, on Sunday, March 5, for the Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
The Jaguars were down by 16-0 to start off the game, but they had a strong defensive and offensive outing the remainder of the game.
With the win, AU wins their second straight PBC Tournament Championship and their third in five years. It’s the seventh title in program history.
Augusta was led by Tyshaun Crawford, who was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player for the second year in a row, with 31 points and nine rebounds. Miguel Arnold scored 16 points and was named to the PBC All-Tournament Team for the second year in a row as well.
“Really happy he got MVP;, his mom was here too, that’s special for him,” said AU Coach Dip Metress of Crawford.
Tyree Myers and David Viti made big baskets for AU, scoring 11 points each. Darren Lucas-White had a phenomenal game, helping out in different ways as well, scoring nine points, grabbing nine rebounds and dishing out six assists.
“I just try to be aggressive and help out my team in any way like any other game,” said Lucas-White, the senior from Capitol Heights, Md. “I just go out there and play hard every time and whatever needs to be done for us to win, I’m going to do it.”
Metress praised the senior class of Arnold, Crawford, Lucas-White and Myers for their performance as they combined for 67 of the team’s points.
This is the third PBC Tournament Championship for Arnold, Lucas-White and Myers, who were all freshman when they won their first.
“It means a lot to get these young guys a ring,” said Myers. “I think it means more for me to get them guys a ring and get them feeling this than it does for me to get a third one but it’s all about leaving a legacy.”
Metress spoke about the special achievement the trio has accomplished.
“This is three on this home floor for them which is really odd,” said Metress. “It’s unusual that you get to play the conference tournament on your floor. I’m happy for them to get their third conference championship.”
Lander was led by Jalen Pugh, who scored all 21 of his points in the first half. He was named to the All-Tournament Team along with Jared Sherfield, who added 11 points.
Pugh carried the Bearcats to their strong opening, shooting 6 of 6 from the 3-point line in the first five minutes of the game to help Lander start off 16-0 and lead 22-4 at the 15:07 mark.
“It’s a long game,” said Myers. “We knew they were going to come out on fire. They had a game plan but we wasn’t going to fold, it’s our house. We have been here, done that before. We’re not done yet.”
Metress called a timeout after the Bearcats started off 11-0 in the first two minutes, but the timeout didn’t stop the momentum they had. The momentum started to shift when some of the Jaguars second unit subbed in and Pugh got subbed out.
“My very first thought was how do I get my team motivated after a loss,” said Metress. “We gave up catch and shoots, we made errors defensively. I was very concerned. But then I looked out there and said if we could get it to five at the half then we’re good. It went pretty quick to 11. Then the next thing you know we’re up, so I said we’re in really good shape.”
Viti provided a spark, making a 3-pointer and mid-range jumper to cut the lead to 11 with 11:31 remaining. Crawford cut the lead to six after fighting through the smothered defense in the paint and converting an and-one layup to trim it to 24-18 with 7:48 left.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Viti and Arnold brought the game within one, forcing Lander to call a timeout as the Bearcats led 28-27 at the 5:26 mark.
After nearly two minutes of scoreless basketball, Arnold gave the Jags their first lead of the game knocking down 3-pointer on a fastbreak play. Arnold scored 10 straight points for AU, helping them get out to a 34-30 lead after a series of jump shots.
Pugh knocked down his seventh 3-pointer of the game to bring it back within one, as Lander trailed 34-33, but this would be his final 3-point make of the night as the Jaguars defense didn’t allow him to get a good look the rest of the game.
At the half the Jaguars led the Bearcats 38-36. They outscored Lander in the final 15 minutes of the half 38-14.
In the second half two quick layups by Crawford pushed the Jags lead to 42-36 early in the half. Later he scored eight straight points for AU, increasing the lead to 58-43 with 13:45 remaining.
Players like senior guard Myers have preached as long as they lock in on the defensive end, they’ll get whatever they want on the offensive end and it showed in the second half. The Jags forced a total of 16 turnovers, eight in each half.
“We cut off a lot of their second-chance points, so they couldn’t get kick-out three’s and stuff off the rebound, so I think that was a big part of it,” said Myers, who is from Baltimore, Md.
The biggest lead of the game came after Ja’Queze Kirby made a putback dunk to go up 83-62 with 2:20 left. The remainder of the game consisted of free throws by AU and late buckets by Lander as the Jags closed out the 86-72 win.
The Bearcats shot 51-percent from the field and the Jags shot 43.3-percent. AU made 21 free throws which played a vital role in the victory while Lander only went to the line and made eight free throws.
Next up is the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional, which will be hosted at Christenberry Fieldhouse. March 11 will be the quarterfinals, followed by March 12 with the semifinals and March 14 the championship.
After a loss in the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Tournament for UNC Pembroke, AU was rewarded the top seed in the regional. Pembroke (26-3) had been the top ranked team in the region rankings heading into last week, but the loss and their strength of schedule helped the Jaguars earn the No. 1 seed and the regional host bid.
AU will play No. 8 Emmanuel (23-7) in the first round of the regional on Saturday, March 11 at 5 p.m. at Christenberry Fieldhouse. The Jags hosted the Lions earlier this season back on Dec. 31, where they defeated the Lions 91-77.
Emmanuel led the Jaguars at the half during that game by seven, but a strong second half performance by Augusta allowed the 21-point swing around. The Lions are led by guard K.J. Jones, the leading scorer in Division II at 26.4 points per game.
The regional features three other PBC teams, No. 4 USC Aiken, No. 6 Lander and No. 7 North Georgia. Rounding up the region is No. 2 UNC Pembroke, No. 3 Lincoln Memorial and No. 4 Catawba.
The winner of the Augusta vs Emmanuel matchup will play the winner of the USC Aiken vs Catawba matchup on Sunday, March 12.
Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carrodriguez@augusta.edu.
Tyshaun Crawford poured in 31 points to lead Augusta to it seventh PBC Tournament title. At the top of the page, all-tournament performer Miguel Arnold celebrates. (photos by Madison Keel)
AU senior guard Darren Lucas-White (C) looks for a teammate to pass to during the Jaguars’ 86-72 PBC Tournament final victory. (photo by Madison Keel)
Jaguar forward Ja’Queze Kirby (13) totaled six points and six rebounds in the final. His defense and rebounding have been crucial to AU’s success this season. (photo by Madison Keel)
Miguel Arnold shoots over a Lander defender on an afternoon when the senior Jaguar guard contributed 16 points. (photo by Madison Keel)
