Jaguar men pull away late to secure ninth straight win
Justin Gray | Sports editor
MORROW—The Jaguars kicked off their road campaign within the Peach Belt Conference with a 72-62 win over Clayton State on Wednesday, Jan. 8.
Going to Clayton State is never an easy task, even with the Lakers being at the bottom of the PBC.
Coach Dip Metress called it “the Abyss” on the weekly “Dip Metress Show” podcast.
The Jaguars walked into it just like it was Christenberry and jumped out to a 19-9 lead.
The big lead helped them not panic when CSU started on the comeback trail, cutting it to a one-point game on a 3-pointer from Jamall Clyce.
That is as close as it got. The Lakers (0-3, 6-7) never took the lead as the Jaguars were able to pull away and extend their lead to as many as 15.
Getting this big of a lead with more than five minutes left meant AU didn’t have to deal with a rowdy crowd as most of the Laker fans were heading toward the exits.
This was something that the 2023-24 version of the Jaguars struggled with, and they were determined to not let that happen this season.
“It’s very important (to be able to close games), it shows that we are locked in and that we’ve matured from top to bottom,” said senior Maximillian Amadasun. “We’ve figured out how to make winning plays.”
The center from Dublin, Ireland, extended his double-double streak to five games with 18 points, 14 in the second half, and 10 rebounds.
Demitri Gardner paced the Jaguars with 22 points on 57 percent shooting from the field. He totaled 17 of those in the first half.
The Jaguars have figured something out that has proved to be dangerous, and that’s how to use Zyere Edwards.
The sophomore guard from Savannah is the smallest player on the team at 5-foot-8, but his quickness and defense has completely changed this team.
In the past two games, he has entered, and the Jaguars have gone on runs solely because he is creating turnovers and giving the opposing offense different looks.
He is one of those guys whose impact doesn’t show up in the box score but is very apparent if you watch the game.
Another big statline in this one was points in the paint, as the Jaguars outscored Clayton State 48-22 in this category. Augusta is now outscoring conference opponents by 52, it has become unstoppable in the paint.
This has led to being able to control games like they did tonight, even when the Jags are playing on the road.
“I told the team before the game, ‘Let’s get to 1-0 on the road in the conference,’ and we did that tonight,” said Metress. “This is a 40-minute league, you gotta play for 40 minutes, you don’t get the luxury of being at home where you can get comfortable, good to get a road win and onto the next.”
The Jaguars are now 9-4 and 3-0 in league play, tied with North Georgia as the only two teams undefeated in conference play.
Up next is a date with arch-rival USC Aiken (2-1, 9-4) at their place on Saturday, Jan. 11, at 3:30 p.m.
“Every game that comes up next is the biggest one, especially when it’s Aiken,” said Amadasun. “They're down the road, so this one is always important. We always go back-and-forth with them.”
Contact Justin Gray at jusgray@augusuta.edu.
AU forward Evan Joyner (0 in blue) drives down into the lane against the Lakers’ Jojo Bell; Joyner totaled six points and six rebounds in the road victory. At the top of the page, Demitri Gardner (2) led AU with 22 points in the 72-62 win at Clayton State. (photos by Justin Gray/the Bell Ringer)
