Jaguars sweep Georgia College in PBC basketball action
Staff report
The 10th-ranked Augusta University men’s basketball team defeated Georgia College 87-64 on Jan. 5 in Milledgeville, and the AU women were also victorious over the Bobcats 47-41.
Tyshaun Crawford led the way for the Jaguar men with 20 points, and teammate Miguel Arnold became the Peach Belt Conference’s all-time leader in made 3-pointers on a 16-point scoring night for the Puerto Rico native. Arnold made two of his five attempts from behind the arc to move one past USC Aiken’s previous standard of 344 made treys in a career.
Three more Jaguars (3-0, 12-1) were in double figures scoring, including Ja’Queze Kirby with 13, Darren Lucas-White with 11 and Demitri Gardner wth 10.
Augusta was efficient on offense, making 57 percent of all shots from the field and 47 from 3-point range.
“We established our presence down low and got Tyshaun the ball,” said Augusta Assistant Coach Zach Tinkham. “It started with our guards that did a very good job of moving the ball side to side before giving it to him. Tyshaun did a good job of holding his spot on the block and then taking the shots that were given to him.”
Yet Tinkham said defense was the key to this latest AU victory. The Jaguars held the Bobcats (0-3, 4-9) to a 39-percent shooting night. Georgia College made just 18 percent of its 3-point attempts.
“We talked the whole night about how it started with our defense,” he said. “Our defense created easier baskets for us on the offensive end.”
In the women’s game, Tomiyah Alford led AU with 16 points. Kiera Howard added 9 points and 5 rebounds.
The two teams traded good quarters in the first half. The Jaguars (2-1, 9-4) jumped out to a 17-6 lead at the end of the first quarter, but the Bobcats countered with a 13-4 second quarter to make it 21-19 in favor of AU at the half. Georgia College (1-2, 9-4) cut AU’s lead to 34-33 by the end of the third.
The Jaguars pulled away down the stretch with solid defense and two free throws each by Howard and Autumn Phillips to seal the victory.
“Defensively, in the fourth quarter, we increased the intensity and forced contested shots,” said AU Coach Celeste Stewart. “We were able to hold them to 20% shooting from the field and 0-8 from the three-point line in the fourth quarter which was pivotal for us winning the game.”
The two AU teams will play at Young Harris on Saturday, Jan. 7. The women tip off at 1:30 p.m., followed by the men at 3:30.
Both the AU and Young Harris men enter Saturday’s game 3-0 in the PBC. Young Harris is undefeated overall (12-0) and ranked 18th in the NCAA Division II.
“Young Harris is well coached and does not make a lot of mistakes,” Tinkham said. “They will pressure our point guard the whole court and when they are on offense, they will set a lot of side ball screens. We will need to defend the ball screen and execute our rotations. On offense we need to get the ball inside to establish our paint presence and also get open kick-out jump shots.”
On the women’s side, Stewart said rebounding will be one of the keys on Saturday.
“In preparation for Young Harris, we must continue to work on rebounding, defend without fouling and increase our shooting percentage,” she said. “Defending and rebounding will be vital.”
The AU women are currently in a four-way tie for second place in the PBC.
Darren Lucas-White (11) had 11 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists to help lead the Augusta University men past Georgia College. At the top of the page, Tomiyah Alford (12) led the way for the Jaguar women with 16 points in their 47-41 win over the Bobcats. (photos by Madison Keel)
