Men's basketball opens season with sweep of Mount Olive, Barton
By Justin Gray | Sports writer
The Augusta men’s basketball team began its season by winning both of their games in the 45 Second Classic at Barton College in Wilson, N.C..
In the opener on Friday, Nov. 10, against the University of Mount Olive, the Jaguars used their efficient shooting (53 percent) to pull away with a 96-86 win. They also had one thing UMO didn’t—Max Amadasun.
The 6-foot-10 transfer from St. Bonaventure had the best game of his career, with 26 points and 15 rebounds in just 28 minutes. He shot 9 of 14 from the field and knocked down all eight of his free throws opportunities, which is unheard of from a center.
“I was able to get to my spots and do what I do best. I believe that I can do good work when I can do that,” Amadasun said, referring to his performance. “It wasn’t part of the game plan; our game plan is always to run our sets hard and take what they give us. Defense is what we key in on and everything else will take care of itself.”
In a high-scoring affair like this one, you always have some high scorers. Well, the Jaguars had three with more than 20 points in this one. One of those came from Demitri Gardner, who added 25 points, his career high.
Gardner shot 8 of 11 from the field and 3 of 4 from behind the arc. The 6-4 forward from Winchester, Va., has been the guy to take good shots, and so far he’s made them.
The third member of the 20-point club was, to no one’s surprise, Ja’Queze Kirby, who has a 21-point double-double. He also had a game-high six steals. As impressive as it is, this is nothing new for Kirby, the heartbeat of this young Jaguar team.
AU Coach Dip Metress was pleased with his team’s performance.
“I am very proud on the team,” said Metress, whose Jaguars had split in exhibitions against Georgia Southern and Emory. “Everyone that played gave us great effort. Max was effective. Points are great but the rebounds were vital for our success along with his rim protection.”
Metress was concerned about one aspect of his team’s defensive play.
“Our ball screen defense was bad in the first half, and that was partly on us as coaches,” he said. “We just need to learn from our mistakes to keep improving.”
The Jaguars had a quick turnaround to get ready for their 1 p.m. start against Barton College on Saturday, Nov. 11. This proved to be a hard-fought game from both sides, including 10 lead changes.
AU trailed most of the game and didn’t take over for good until Gardner knocked down a tough layup to stretch the lead to three points. Add some late free throws, and the Jaguars finished it out with a 78-73 win.
“It was an old-fashioned slugfest of a basketball game,” said Metress. “Nothing pretty about the game. Really happy we were able to keep our composure late in the game when we were down. Very very fortunate to come out with a win.”
Gardner led the Jaguars in scoring with 18, and he had 43 combined points in the games this weekend. Through the exhibitions and everything, he has simply been on another level.
“The key to my success has been being consistently in a routine no matter how the day is good or bad,” said Gardner.
David Viti was a sparkplug for the Jaguars in this one, tallying 13 points, six rebounds and two assists. Viti made a major impact on the court with not only his skills, but also by being the emotional leader on the team.
The senior from Buford was proud of his team’s overall effort.
“The freshmen have grown up so much over the last 80 minutes of basketball,” Viti said. “Zyere Edwards’ growth as a point guard from the end of last game to the end of this game is what helped us win tonight. All of them are learning and understanding their role, and if they buy in, we’ll be all right.
“Kirby, Max, Meech and I just tried to lead the best we could. Making free throws and getting defensive rebounds when we needed them. We learned from the group before us how to close out a game, and we just listen to Coach Dip and trusted him to close out tight games. We’ve been in situations like that in bigger games than today, so we understand what it takes to seal the deal.”
This weekend was not only a big learning weekend for the young guys, but also was great for helping the team learn to play as a team when things get tough. After two gritty wins, the Jaguars will head home, but not for long.
The Jaguars head back up to North Carolina on Tuesday Nov. 14, this time to Fayetteville State University. The game will start at 7:30 p.m. and will be live-streamed. The Jaguars look to improve to 3-0 in another non-conference match-up.
Contact Justin Gray at jusgray@augusta.edu.
Demitri Gardner (with the ball) provided a big lift with 43 points in two games for the Jaguars, who opened the season with a pair of road wins. At the top of the page, Max Amadasun (17) was the difference on Friday night with 26 points and 15 rebounds in the 96-86 win over Mount Olive. (photos by Paula Toole, AU Athletics)
Zyere Edwards (0) had eight points and four assists for the Jaguars in the 78-73 win over Barton College in Wilson, N.C. (photo by Paula Toole, AU Athletics)
