No. 10 Augusta drops close contest at Flagler

By Carlos Rodriguez, sports editor

The No. 10 ranked Augusta University men’s basketball team suffered its first loss of the season, at Flagler College, on Wednesday night, Jan. 12, as the Saints (4-2, 2-1) defended their home court and defeated the Jaguars (3-1, 1-1) by a 70-64 score. 

In the loss, sophomore Lee Flenor was Augusta’s leading scorer with 19 points and leading rebounder with 15, giving him a double-double. Junior Darren Lucas-White scored 15 points and dished out four assists. Junior Tyree Myers and freshman John Whitehead III both added nine points while junior Tyshaun Crawford rounded out the starting five with eight points. 

This is the second consecutive game that Augusta had several players out, and unfortunately it cost them this time around. With a small bench it forced the starting five to stay on the court for almost the whole game. Lucas-White and Myers played the most with 38 and 37 minutes out of the 40 minutes.

“We gave great effort,” said AU Coach Dip Metress. “I am very proud of our team’s spirit.”

Flagler was led by new addition Jaizec Lottie, a senior transfer from the University of Arkansas-Little Rock, a Division I program in the Sun Belt Conference.  He scored 30 points and was crucial down the stretch, making big plays that was ultimately the key to Flagler’s win.

“Lottie is probably the best guard in the league,” said Metress. “Very efficient and a phenomenal passer and hit tough shots down the stretch.”

The game started off slow with both teams misfiring shots from different areas. Lucas-White broke the scoring drought after receiving a feed from Crawford inside the lane to finish a reverse layup to go up 2-0 with 17:57 remaining.

Both teams traded baskets, exchanging leads, but in the middle of the half AU managed to hold Flagler scoreless for nearly three minutes until Lottie sprinted from the opposite end of the floor and put up a layup which was swatted by Crawford and would end up being called a goaltend to cut Augusta’s lead to 23-16 with 5:40 remaining.

The Jaguars would achieve their biggest lead of the half after Lucas-White threw a pass while in the air to Whitehead III who knocked down his third three-pointer of the game to give AU a 31-20 lead with 2:53 remaining.

Flagler made a run to cut the lead down to two, but Crawford scored the final basket off the half off a jump hook to give AU a 33-29 lead heading into halftime.

At the half, Whitehead III and Lucas-White had nine points each. Lottie had nine as well for Flagler.

The second half started faster than the first with Marcus Henderson knocking down a three in Flagler’s first possession to cut the lead to 33-32. Shortly after, Lottie finished a layup to give the Saints a 36-35 lead.

Lottie gave the Saints their biggest lead of the game after knocking down two free throws to put them up 47-41 with 13:06 remaining.

Augusta went on a run, tying things up at 49 after Flenor made a pair of free throws with 11:11 remaining. Two minutes later Flenor would go onto make another pair of free throws to give AU a 54-53 lead.

Flenor capped off another unanswered run by the Jags after they went up 62-53 after his layup make with 5:39 remaining. Flenor scored 17 of his 19 points in the second half.

“Lee continued to battle through contact,” said Metress on Flenor’s offensive presence in the paint during the second half.

With two minutes remaining, Flagler tied the game at 62 after Lottie hit a step back three-pointer. Flenor answered the next play with a hook shot to put the Jags up 64-62 with 1:27 remaining. Missed attempts from the field and the free throw line from the Jaguars hurt them as Flagler would score eight unanswered points from the line in the final 1:16. Lottie knocked down four free throws, and Henderson and Derrick Ellis Jr. both made two to lead them to a 70-64 victory. 

“Free throws are a key component to winning,” said Metress. “We missed two front ends of one on one”

Augusta’s next conference matchup will be on the road at Georgia Southwestern this Saturday, Jan. 16, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. The Jaguars return to the home court for two straight games on Jan. 20 and Jan. 23 as they host Lander and Clayton State. 

 Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carlosjr521@gmail.com.

Florida native Lee Flenor (3) led No. 10 Augusta University with 19 points and 15 rebounds in the 70-64 loss at Flagler in a Peach Belt Conference game. (photo by Viraj Bulla)

Boxscore: Flagler 70, AU 64