Fast-paced second half favors Augusta in 78-73 win over Lander

By Carlos Rodriguez | Sports editor

The Augusta University men’s basketball team picked up their second consecutive win against Lander, Wednesday night, Jan. 20. The Jaguars defeated the Bearcats 78-73.

Sophomore Lee Flenor led the team in scoring with 21 points and added nine rebounds. Flenor was able to flourish in the paint and has led Augusta in scoring for the third time in the past four games.

“He’s a hard playing guy; he’s Ben Wallace,” said AU coach Dip Metress, comparing Flenor to the former NBA forward who played his college ball at Virginia Union. “Lee’s easy to coach. He doesn’t want the limelight. He knows people are double teaming Tyshaun (Crawford), and he’s gotten better about being in the right spot. He plays hard and he’s really good defensively.”

Junior Tyshaun Crawford posted a double-double with 17 points and 13 rebounds while shooting 9-11 from the free throw line. Shawn Moss scored 11 points off the bench and shot 3-3 from three-point range, and junior Darren Lucas-White scored 10 points.

For Lander, Sidney Robinson poured in 31 points off the bench, connecting on 7-10 three-point field goals. DaJuan Moorer added 18 points.

The first half was filled with scoring droughts from both teams and started off slowly, but the second half was a back-and-forth battle. Lander jumped out to a 4-0 lead after a layup from Jermaine Patterson and jump shot from Moorer with 17:38 remaining. 

Flenor was taken out of the lineup by Metress. This fueled him as he got put back in right away and quickly scored, backing his man down and rising up for a dunk on two defenders to tie the game at six with 14:11 left. 

“I came out for like 20 seconds and he (Metress) was telling me I was playing soft, so I had to go in and get one,” said Flenor.

Augusta got their first lead of the game after Tyshaun Crawford finished and and-one layup in the paint to go up 9-6 with 13:43 remaining. After a basket from Flenor and free throw makes from junior Tyree Myers, the Jaguars went up 20-7 at the 8:29 mark.

After a media timeout, the Bearcats picked up their intensity and went on a 9-0 run. During the run, Robinson scored seven straight points, picking up two back-to-back steals to finish two layups and ending his run with a three-pointer to cut Augusta’s lead to 20-16 with 5:27 left to play.

“The guy (Robinson) had it going,” said Metress. “But what got him going was the two quick easy layups.”

Robinson attacked the Jaguars again going on a 5-0 run, drilling a three-pointer on one possession then getting another steal to finish another layup to put Lander up 25-22 with less than three minutes of play. 

Sophomore Timmy Sellers finished two layups on consecutive possessions to help Augusta finish the half only down by one, with Lander up 29-28. Sellers finished with seven points off the bench.

“I thought Timmy was really good,” said Metress. “Timmy put his head down and got to the rim a couple of times and I was proud of him for not being afraid to make a play.”

The Bearcats finished the last eight minutes of half on a 22-8 run that was propelled by Augusta turnovers.

At the half Robinson led all scorers with 12 points. Flenor and Crawford had eight and seven points, respectively.

“We came out slow and we tried to pick it up in the second half,” said Flenor. “We had 12 turnovers at the half, so we had to limit the turnovers.” 

Coming out of the halftime break, the Jaguars scored six straight unanswered points off of a basket from John Whitehead III and two straight baskets from Flenor.

Lucas-White connected on a difficult shot in transition while being fouled to put AU up 42-36 with less than 13 minutes to go. Lander’s Deon Berrien tied the game up at 45 after knocking down a mid-range jumper. The very next possession Robinson gave Lander a 48-45 lead after making a step-back three with 10:17 remaining. 

After a Lander miss, Shawn Moss pushed the ball up the court and made a pullup three-pointer to put AU up 50-48 with 9:34 left. 

Robinson knocked down his fifth three-pointer of the night with 6:11 to go, putting Lander up 59-58. AU regained the lead but Robinson knocked down his sixth three to tie the game and his seventh three to go up 71-70 at the 1:51 mark. 

“They took 30 threes. We won’t take 30 threes this whole week. It’s completely different for us to play against,” said Metress.

Flenor put Augusta up 74-71 after finishing a layup which was answered by Moorer who made his own layup to reduce the lead to 74-73. Flenor was sent to the foul line and made both his attempts along with Myers who was sent to the foul line and knocked down his attempts as well that lifted AU to 78-73 win.

“We’re ugly, it’s not pretty,” said Metress. “But we outrebounded them by double digits. If we don’t throw the ball to them in the first half and let them get five layups, we separate early. I kind of resolved the fact that we will not have a game when it’s under five minutes that’s not close.”

The team took a day off Thursday to rest up and help stay healthy due to a full load of games, having played four games in seven days with three of the four being on the road.

Augusta (5-2, 3-2) will play a home conference game on Saturday, Jan. 23, at 2 p.m. against Clayton State (0-5, 0-5). The game will be live streamed on pbcsportsnetwork.com.

Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carlosjr521@gmail.com.

Lee Flenor (3) led the Jaguars to victory with 21 points and nine rebounds, as AU improved to 3-2 in Peach Belt Conference play. (photos by Carlos Rodriguez)