AU men’s hoops team claims PBC regular-season title with win at Clayton State
By Carlos Rodriguez | Co-editor in chief
The Augusta University men’s basketball team overcame a late surge by Clayton State to win the regular-season finale 84-74 on the road on Saturday, Feb. 26.
With the win, the No. 10-ranked Jaguars finished the regular-season 15-3 in the Peach Belt and 25-3 overall. They will host Georgia Southwestern on Tuesday, March 1, in the opening round of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament.
Coming into the game, AU and Flagler were tied for first in the Peach Belt Conference standings, but the Saints lost to Lander on Saturday, giving the Jags sole possession of first place and coach Dip Metress his seventh regular-season title at Augusta. This means AU will be the top seed in the postseason league tourney.
Tyshaun Crawford, the reigning PBC player of the week and NCAA Division II national player of the week, recorded his ninth double-double of the season to lead Augusta with 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Off the bench, Darren Lucas-White posted 17 points with five boards. Ja’Queze Kirby scored 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds while Troy Cracknell had 11 points.
The Lakers had three players in double figures with Ricardo Lynch leading the way with 26 points. Brian Coffey II and Xavier Joyner added 19 and 12 points, respectively.
Augusta jumped out to a 10-0 lead after two five-point spurts from both Cracknell and Kirby. Clayton State found a rhythm to cut the lead to 13-9 after a 3-point make by Coffey II with 16:17 left.
Cracknell gave the Jags an 11-point lead, sinking a 3-pointer as they went up 30-19. Lucas-White made a layup with 2:57 remaining to put AU up 43-29, giving them their biggest lead of the game. Clayton State followed his basket with a 9-0 run to close out the half and trim the Jags lead to 43-38.
During the first five minutes of play during the second half, the Lakers battled back to tie the game at 50 after Lynch knocked down a 3-pointer. Lynch gave them their first lead of the game at the 11:18 mark after making a jumper, putting the Lakers ahead 54-52.
Later in the half, Lynch converted another jumper to give Clayton State a 62-57 lead, its biggest lead of the game.
AU found momentum and regained the lead after Miguel Arnold made a 3-pointer to go up 69-68. With less than a minute left, Crawford slammed down a dunk to increase Augusta’s lead to 80-71.
The Lakers made another 3-pointer and began to foul the Jags, who went 4 for 4 from the line in the final minute to spoil Clayton State’s Senior Night and escape with the 10-point win.
The PBC Tournament starts Tuesday, March 1, with the quarterfinal round. Seeds No. 1-No. 4 will host the quarterfinals. The Augusta-Georgia Southwestern game at Christenberry Fieldhouse will tip off at 7 p.m.
If the Jaguars win, they will host the remainder of the tournament at Christenberry Fieldhouse with the semifinals on Friday, March 4, and the championship on Saturday, March 5. With a win on Tuesday, AU would play the winner of No. 4 USC Aiken vs No. 5 Columbus State.
Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carrodriguez@augusta.edu.
Tyshaun Crawford’s free-throw shooting has been a key for AU during the conference regular season; Crawford (0) made 7 of 9 free tosses and had 25 points in the win over Clayton State. At the top of the page, Darren Lucas-White gets off a jumper; he had 17 in the win over the Lakers. (photos by Madison Keel)
