Jaguar men rally to defeat Columbus State, again

Justin Gray | Sports editor

COLUMBUS—The Augusta men were searching for their big win on the road, and they got it in a big way on Saturday, Feb.1, taking down 17th=ranked Columbus State, 76-69, on the road. 

Until today, the Jaguars had lost in their two toughest conference road games, at USC Aiken and North Georgia, and to win this conference you have to take some on the road from the best teams to win this conference. 

The Jaguars knew today was the prime opportunity to do just that and took advantage. 

The first half was very reminiscent of their first halves in its two conference losses, as they only scored 25 points and trailed by 11 at half. 

“We really struggled in the first half,” said AU Coach Dip Metress. “If we don’t offensive rebound in first half, we would have been down 20.”

That number grew to 14 before the Jaguars started on the comeback trail and they did fast. 

The comeback first looked possible when freshman Elías Pálsson drilled a 3-pointer to make it a 52-45 game and the next possession Demitri Gardner nailed a mid-range jump shot to cut the deficit to five. 

Fast forward to 10:33 remaining in the game, Zyere Edwards and Gardner hit three-pointers on back-to-back trips down the floor to make it a 56-53 game. 

It almost felt as if there shouldn’t have been so much time still left, but that’s just how fast this all transpired. 

AU took the lead 63-61 with over four and a half minutes left in the game, and it was their first lead since the 13:48 mark in the first half. 

From there it was a war, both teams throwing jabs and responding to each other, but it was Augusta who threw the final punch to put the game out of reach. 

That came on another Pálsson 3-point shot that extended the Jaguar’ lead to 74-68 and AU walked out with its best road win since last season at USC Aiken. 

Let’s look at just how impressive this second half was from the Jaguars. 

Augusta made 15 of its final 17 shots and in the final 13 minutes it only had four possessions in which it didn’t score points.

FOUR. 

That was one of the more impressive closing stretches that the Jaguars have shown in the last two years. 

“We played a phenomenal last 14 minutes to get a huge road win against an experienced team,” said Metress. 

The Jaguars were led by Gardner once again with 26 points as he outdueled Columbus State’s leading scorer Jarrett Adderton, who could only muster 15 points against AU. 

Those two are the top two scorers in the entire PBC. 

“It’s a great feeling to sweep the top team, and get a Top 20 win together,” said Gardner, the native of Winchester, V.a. “This gives us great confidence, but we know we have to start out stronger if we want to excel in the postseason.”

Maximilian Amadasun had another good game notching another double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. He also had two assists, his season-high. 

Augusta outrebounded CSU 38-30 in the affair, which was one of the biggest differences in the game. 

Now, as most people know, playing in one of the most competitive conferences in NCAA Division II, it’s time to turn the sights to the next matchup, even with the magnitude of that win. 

Up next for the Jaguars is Clayton State at Christenberry Fieldhouse on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 7:30 p.m. and it will also be “Greek Night” so come out and support the Jaguars. 

Standings Update:

USC Aiken was upset at Georgia College and North Georgia fell to Flagler, leaving just Augusta and Columbus State sitting at 7-2. 

And now Augusta holds the tiebreaker over Columbus State after the season sweep, giving the Jaguars first place in the conference. 

We will continue tracking this close PBC race as the second half of the schedule continues. 

Contact jusgray@augusta.edu.

AU’s Max Amadasun (17) had a double to help lead the Jaguars to the regular-season sweep of No. 17 Columbus State. The Dublin, Ireland, native had 17 points and 10 points. At the top of the page, point guard John St. Germain III (4) had key free throws down the stretch to preserve the win that put AU in a first-place tie with the Cougars—and Augusta holds the tiebreaker. St. Germain had 10 points, six assists and two blocks. (photos by Lydia Williams)