No. 17 Jaguar men stay undefeated with road win over Bowie State

By Carlos Rodriguez | Co-editor in chief 

The Augusta University men’s basketball team improved to 5-0 after defeating Bowie State on the road 80-69 on Sunday, Nov. 29. 

AU, ranked 17th in the NABC Division II coaches’ poll, received a balanced scoring performance as five Jags were in double figures.  

Troy Cracknell led the way, scoring 17 points with 15 of them coming in the second half.  

Darren Lucas-White added 13 points off the bench. The Capitol Heights, Md., native enjoyed playing close to home with familiar faces in the stands.  

“It felt great seeing family and friends in the crowd,” said Lucas-White. “Playing in the Maryland area, it’s a lot of trash talking and if you can’t handle that you can’t survive in that environment. I was comfortable out there; it just felt like playing in high school again.” 

Miguel Arnold and Ja’Queze Kirby both scored 12 points, knocking down four and three 3-pointers, respectively. Tyshaun Crawford put up 10 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. 

The first four baskets of the game for AU came off of 3-pointers from Arnold and Kirby, who both hit two apiece. Arnold knocked down the first two, followed by Kirby with the last two that gave the Jags a 12-7 lead with 16:53 remaining in the half.  

Arnold hit his third trey of the game at the 14:21 mark to push the lead to 15-9. After that bucket, Lucas-White would go onto score the next 10 points for Augusta.  

He capped off his 10-point run with a jumper that gave AU a 10-point lead of 25-15 with 8:10 remaining.  

The Jags maintained a steady lead and headed into halftime up 42-31. Kirby led the charge with 11 points, followed by Lucas-White with 10 and Arnold with 9.  

In the second half Augusta stretched their lead to 20, after Kirby knocked down a free throw to go up 55-35 with 15:43 left.  

The Bulldogs worked AU’s lead down to 14 at the 9:36 mark after two free throw makes from Tyler Jones trimmed the Jags lead to 58-44. AU quickly answered after a jumper from Cracknell on the very next possession made it a 16-point lead. 

With a lot of time left to play, Bowie State continued to fight and cut the lead to single digits after a layup from Quinton Drayton made it 69-61 with 4:07 left to play. With under three minutes of play, the Bulldogs cut the lead to as little as six, after David McCullough hit two free throws, cutting AU’s lead to 71-65. 

The Jaguars maintained their lead and stretched it out to double digits again, and Lucas-White finished off the win with a free throw make to send AU home with the 11-point victory.  

“We were slowing them down by playing zone,” said Lucas-White. “We didn’t finish the game strong like we’re supposed to, but we got the win. I’m proud that everyone fought.” 

AU’s next game will be on Thursday, Dec. 2, against Claflin College at Christenberry Fieldhouse. The game was originally set to play at 11 a.m. and was going to be the return of AU’s Education Day for Richmond County students to attend, but due to the bus system not having enough drivers, it has been decided to instead play at 5:30 p.m. with admission being free for everyone.   

Contact Carlos Rodriguez at CARRODRIGUEZ@augusta.edu.