Jags down Georgia College as Gardner surpasses 1,000 points
Justin Gray | Sports editor
The Jaguars took care of business against Georgia College, 88-76, on Wednesday night, Jan. 29, and they will set their sights on the biggest game of the year to date with Columbus State on Feb. 1.
There were many stories in this game, but none bigger than Demitri “Meech” Gardner joining the 1,000-point club at AU in just 70 games. That’s an absurd level of consistency. He becomes the 39th member of the club.
He has become one of the nation’s top scorers in the last two seasons and even made the Bevo Francis Top 100 list as a junior.
The Winchester, Va., native has scored at least 20 points in 14 of the Jaguars’ 18 games this season.
So let’s look at how he joined the club against Georgia College.
He knocked down 10 of AU’s first 14 points and was then subbed out for a few minutes, and the Jaguars took an 18-8 lead.
Georgia College then showed they weren’t going down without a fight and went on a 9-0 run to cut the deficit to one.
All nine of those points came on 3-pointers by the Bobcats’ Luke Krawcyzk.
Gardner picked up his 12th point of the night on the next possession but then got into some foul trouble and sat for nearly five minutes.
When he returned, he knocked down a 3-pointer with only 41 seconds remaining in the half to reach the 1K milestone.
The Jaguars held a celebration at halftime where the team took pictures with him and showed the media team’s tribute on the big screens.
Gardner’s parents were also able to make the game and celebrate with their son.
“It was a great feeling to be able to achieve it at our house in front of our home crowd and having my parents at the game they don’t get to make many,” said the Jags’ leading scorer. “I was trying to make it just like another game, but it was hard because my brothers kept talking about it, messing with me, and for that I appreciate them so much!”
AU went into half with a 13-point advantage, 42-29.
The second half was solely about finishing the job, and that the Jags did, extending their lead all the way to 21 points.
The Bobcats scored some in the closing minutes to make the contest look closer than it ever was.
Gardner finished with 23 points in the affair.
With all this talk about him, albeit very warranted, Maximillian Amadasun’s performance was overshadowed.
He posted 23 points and 16 rebounds, his eleventh double-double of the season.
His rebounding numbers have skyrocketed lately, and he seems to be playing more aggressively this season, recording double-digit rebounds in every conference game but one.
This has been something that has just come with time and hard work.
“Having a knack for where the ball is going to go,” said the Dublin, Ireland, native. “I feel like with the experience I have in college it comes naturally now.
The Jaguars (6-2, 12-6) now have a date with Columbus State for first place in the conference on Saturday, Feb. 1. Augusta got the best of the Cougars 79-75 on Jan. 4. All eyes in the PBC will be on this matchup.
Columbus State (7-1, 16-2) has a one-game lead on AU and USC Aiken for first place in the conference.
Contact Justin Gray at jusgray@augusta.edu.
AU’s Demitri Gardner (2) had 23 points and surpassed the 1,000-point milestone for his career in the Jaguars’ 88-76 win over Georgia College at Christenberry Fieldhouse. At the top of the page, Augusta guard John St. Germain III (4) guards the Bobcats’ Khalil Green on a night when St. Germain had 10 points, seven assists and three steals. (photos by Lydia Williams/the Bell Ringer)
