Despite 37 points from Arnold, AU loses to rival USC Aiken
By Carlos Rodriguez | Sports editor
The Augusta University men’s basketball team fell to USC Aiken 95-85 on Wednesday night, Feb. 15, at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
The Pacers (11-4 18-7) completed a regular-season sweep of the Jaguars (11-4, 20-5) and drop-down AU into a second-place tie with them in the Peach Belt Conference standings. Both teams sit one-game behind North Georgia (12-3), and each will play the Nighthawks next week.
“This hurts our chances to win the regular season, but there’s still a lot of basketball left,” said AU Coach Dip Metress.
Despite the loss, AU’s Miguel Arnold scored a career-high 37 points, making six 3-pointers. Tyshaun Crawford added 16 points.
“We’re too reliant on Tyshaun and Miguel right now, and we’ve got to get other guys to think they can make a basket,” said Metress.
USC Aiken’s Tehree Horn and Jalen McCoy led the Pacers with 29 and 28 points, respectively.
“He (McCoy) went to his right shoulder and got jump hooks, got offensive rebounds for them; he was really good,” said Metress. “They had two players score 57 points. We knew about Horn and had a game plan for McCoy, but we just didn’t execute it.”
The Jaguars hosted their second annual Stuff the Stadium game, where fans throw stuffed animals onto the court after the first field goal make by Augusta.
A slow start didn’t give the Jags their first field goal until the 15:58 mark after Ja’Queze Kirby did a spin move and scored a layup.
Both teams exchanged leads several times throughout the next 10 minutes, but Aiken closed the final four minutes on a run. After being tied at 33 with 4:28 left, the Pacers went on a 14-2 run.
McCoy had an emphatic dunk after Tyler Johnson threw him an alley oop that he flushed down to give Aiken a 41-33 lead with 2:35 remaining.
Aiken’s Jameel Rideout closed out the half making a buzzer beater fading shot from the right wing to put the Pacers up 47-35 at the break. Rideout finished with 14 points.
In the second half the Jaguars found momentum to get within striking distance of the Pacers. Several times the lead was cut to six, but Aiken kept finding answers.
Augusta continued to fight back though, an and-one bucket by Crawford cut the Pacers lead to one, as they trailed 64-63 with 8:47 left.
The next possession Arnold hit a 3-pointer to give the Jaguars their first lead since the first half. Aiken called a timeout to regroup and came back onto the floor ready to regain the lead.
They ended up going on a 13-0 run. Rideout hit two back-to-back 3-pointers during the run, including a four-point play. A steal and layup finish by Horn put Aiken up 77-66 with 5:45 left, forcing Metress to call a timeout.
“We got a little out of sorts there, and they hit some big shots during that stretch,” Metress said. “We had a crucial turnover there and we just didn’t play well.”
The Pacers continued their hot streak led by Horn, who made shot after shot. He scored 20 points in the second half. Arnold kept firing for the Jags and connected on a couple shots but it wasn’t enough as Aiken ran away with the 95-85 victory, sweeping the regular season series with the Jags.
Augusta shot 41.8-percent from the field while Aiken shot 56.1-percent and was outrebounded by the Pacers 38-24.
“I told my team in there I take the blame,” said Metress. “I didn’t have them ready for this game, but we’ll have them ready for Flagler on Saturday.”
AU will play on the road at Flagler (6-9) on Saturday, Feb. 18 at 3:30. The Jaguars look to avenge the Saints, who gave them their first conference loss of the season last month.
Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carrodriguez@augusta.edu.
Miguel Arnold had a career-high 37 points to lead the Jaguars. At the top of the page, David Viti dunks two of five points home for AU. (photos by Madison Keel)
Chris Britt (25) had seven points and two assists in 19 minutes for AU on a night when starting point guard Tyree Myers was saddled with foul trouble. (photo by Madison Keel)
It was Stuff the Stadium Night, and the fans showered the court with teddy bears after Ja’Queze Kirby made AU’s first basket. (photo by Madison Keel)
