Miracle in Murfreesboro: Jags overcome 10-point deficit late, win at Chowan in OT

By Justin Gray | Sports editor

MURFREESBORO, N.C.—Augusta University’s second road trip of the season was the exact opposite of the first, as the Jaguar men picked up two comeback wins, the first over Virginia Union, 81-74, and the second over Chowan University in overtime, 105-99.  

Things couldn’t have gone much better for Augusta as the Jaguars improved in every facet that they had been struggling in.  

In the first game at Virginia Union on Nov. 30, the Jaguars trailed by as many as 11 points with four minutes before the half, but were able to cut the lead to just four at the break.  

Then, Union made the mistake of letting the Jags get hot, as AU started the half on a 22-6 run and took its largest lead of the game, a 12-point margin.  

Augusta was able to coast from there and close out the road victory with their final 14 points coming by way of the free throw, not to mention all of those made consecutively.  

The Jaguars made 21 of their 22 free throws in the game, which is an area that hadn’t been a strength before, as they came in shooting just 67 percent from the charity stripe this season.  

Evan Joyner, the transfer from North Carolina A&T, returned to action, and it can’t be overlooked how impactful his presence has been when healthy as he scored 14 points, second most on Dip Metress’ squad.  

Leading Augusta was Demitri Gardner, who totaled 23 points in an off-game where he shot only 25 percent from the field. He also grabbed 11 rebounds, giving him his second double-double of the season, his first coming in the loss against Florida Southern.  

John St. Germain III (12) and Maximillian Amadasun (10) also were in double digit points.  

The Jaguars held Tahj Harding of Virginia Union to only 15 points, which is impressive considering he had 46 in the triple overtime game against Augusta last season.  

Onto game two, the more exciting comeback of the two.  

Chowan led in the first half over AU by as many as 14 points as they had a big 15-6 run to close it out.  

In the second half, the Jags battled, but Chowan seemed to be too much as they led by 10 points with 1:45 left on the clock, but Augusta had other plans.  

They roared back with a 10-0 run led by Gardner as he had eight of those 10.  

Then AU dominated the overtime, outscoring the Hawks 20-14. Amadasun, the 6-foot-11 senior center, put the Jaguars ahead to stay with a short jumper for 91-89 before St. Germain and Chaevon Torrance got back-to-back layups for a 95-89 AU lead.

The Jaguars then went into overtime and won the game 105-99, a massive win for a young AU team. 

“It's (the comeback) up there with the triple OT win against Virginia Union last year, and it feels good to be able to help the team get the win,” said Gardner, who had a career-high 38 points.   

He’s has been “ol’ reliable” for the Jags as he is averaging 22 points per game, so Coach Dip Metress knows what he’s getting from him on a game-by-game basis.  

The other Jaguar in this dynamic duo, Amadasun, is the one that AU needed to take that next step coming into the season and he has done that, today was another step in that direction as he totaled a career-high 31 points and grabbed 13 rebounds.  

He’s already brought his scoring average up to 18.7 points per game, six points higher than his average last year.  

Metress’ offense has always run through the big man down low and at times in 2023-24 they weren’t able to, but Amadasun is making his presence known in the paint.  

If he plays like this, this team doesn’t have a ceiling on what they can accomplish and it’s going to be a fun season.  

If you know Max, he’s all about the team, even after this dominant performance, he could only sing the praises of his squad.  

“We’re finally starting to figure it out, patch up all of our holes one game at a time. We’re not there yet but it feels good to dig deep and battle through mistakes to get the answer we’re searching for,” said the center from Dublin, Ireland.  

There was no one happier with the wins than the man at the helm of the program as he saw some fight in his time to battle back and sweep the weekend.  

“It was feast week for the Jags, three road wins. We just kept playing and we didn’t force things. In that last two minutes (of the Chowan game), everything that had to go our way did, tactically we switched all ball screens and Max and Demitri were phenomenal.” 

Daylan Askew led the Hawks (3-4) with 35, and teammate Aaron Ross added 21 points.

AU shot 56.5 percent from the floor. The Jaguars had another good game at the free-throw line, making 23 of 27 for 85 percent. Chowan shot 55 percent from the floor and 73 percent from the line.

Metress’s team only committed 11 turnovers and forced 17 by the Hawks.

Augusta (3-4) will look to continue this momentum into Thursday, Dec. 5, when the Jags host Paine College for the annual Richmond County Education Game at 11 a.m. before having an extended break.  

 Contact Justin Gray at jusgray@augusta.edu.

AU’s Max Amadasun (17) poured in 31 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help lead the Jaguars to an overtime win at Chowan. At the top of the page, Demitri Gardner (2) pumped in a career-high 38 to lead the frantic comeback. (photos by Paula Toole/AU Athletics)