Pacers upend Jaguars for third time, end AU's hoops season

By Carlos Rodriguez | Sports editor

The top-seeded Augusta University men’s basketball team’s season concluded after suffering an 84-77 loss in the NCAA Division II Southeast Regional semifinal to the fourth-seeded USC Aiken on Sunday, March 12, at Christenberry Fieldhouse. 

“Tip my hat to Augusta, Coach Dip (Metress) and their squad,” said USC Aiken Coach Mark Vanderslice. “We did a good job of coming out tonight and taking advantage of a couple of things we thought we could expose, and they just made it tough on us all night and we kept battling.” 

AU’s Tyree Myers led all scorers with 20 points, shooting 8-for-11 from the field. Miguel Arnold scored 17 points for the Jags. Tyshaun Crawford and Ja’Queze Kirby were also in double figures, scoring 15 and 13 points, respectively. 

USC Aiken had five players in double figures, led by Tyler (Chip) Johnson with 18 points. Tehree Horn followed with 16 points, Karon Boyd with 15, Jalen McCoy with 14 and Jameel Rideout with 13. 

“We changed our defensive philosophy a few weeks ago to be less help-oriented, and they direct drove us to death,” said AU Coach Dip Metress, “especially at the elbows, and that hurt us. They isolated the middle of the floor, and we didn’t do a good job with that.”  

With the loss, AU finished the season at 27-6, and this concludes the decorated careers of seniors Arnold, Myers, Crawford and Darren Lucas-White.

“We got four guys who are really good players, and I hate to see their careers end like that,” said Metress. “They’ve been great representatives of our program.” 

The win improved Aiken to 24-8 overall and sets them up for a Southeast Regional Championship matchup with Lincoln Memorial on Tuesday, March 14, at 7 p.m. at Christenberry Fieldhouse. The win also gives Aiken a sweep of Augusta during the season, beating the Jags in all three matchups. 

“Beating a team three times is difficult, especially (twice) at their place, but a lot of respect to the program, the coach and everything they do,” said Vanderslice. 

The Jags started the game off with a quick 3-pointer by Kirby, but that would be their only lead of the night. The Pacers were hot offensively and defensively, going on a 14-0 run before the Jags would score another basket. 

AU was able to get things going, cutting the lead to seven after a 3-pointer by Myers, but the Pacers kept having answers for everything the Jaguars threw at them. 

McCoy played a big role for Aiken off the bench, coming in and scoring eight points in the half, getting rebounds, steals and setting up his teammates.  

Before the half ended Johnson gave the Pacers a 38-27 lead after knocking down a step back jumper, but the Jags answered as Kirby threw down a putback dunk before the time expired as they trailed 38-29 at the half. 

“He (Chip) was kind of in the zone today,” said Vanderslice. “We don’t really expect to play somebody 19 and half minutes in a half, but we really couldn’t take Chip out because his energy level on both ends of the court.” 

In the second half, the Jaguars cut the lead to five, after Myers scored a bucket in the paint, trailing 47-42 with 15:25 remaining. Just like the first half though, every time it seemed as the Jaguars were getting close to making a run, the Pacers had an answer and made key plays. 

Arnold and Johnson traded baskets during two straight possessions, with Arnold making a layup then Johnson making one, followed by a jumper by Arnold then a 3-pointer by Johnson giving Aiken a 62-53 lead at the 8:34 mark. 

Foul trouble hurt the Jaguars as Crawford couldn’t play 30 or more minutes like he normally does, instead playing only 28, having four fouls. Myers and Lucas-White also had four fouls. 

The Pacers would try to inch away from time to time but Myers kept the Jaguars in the game, scoring tough baskets that AU desperately needed. He scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half. 

After a layup by Rideout gave Aiken a 77-69 lead, Myers quickly came down the floor and made one of his own as the Jags called timeout, trailing by six with 1:19 left. 

Out of the timeout the Pacers had a big play, as Rideout threw a long inbound pass to Boyd who was open on the other end for a dunk. Once again, though, Myers kept fighting, making an and-one layup to cut it to 79-74 with 56 seconds left. 

The rest of the game became a free-throw game as the Pacers would knock down five of them and Kirby would knock down a 3-pointer to total up the final points.

“In the second half the direct drives hurt us,” said Metress. “Our game plan was to go inside, get to the free throw line and slow the game up so we can play five-on-five basketball. We weren’t able to do that, and we missed a couple of those free throws when we had our chance.” 

The Pacers shot 60 percent from the field while the Jags shot 50 percent. The Pacers outrebounded Augusta 34-22 and shot and made more free throws than AU (17-11). Crawford, who has improved his foul shooting considerably over four seasons, was only 5 of 11 from the stripe in this game.

“I think in the first half our defensive performance was pretty good,” Vanderslice said. “We talk about it all the time. We have to hold our opponent to 42 percent or less, and in the first half I feel like we did a really good job of fueling our offense through our defense. The first half in particular set the tone and stage for the rest of the game for us.” 

With the 2022-23 season over, AU’s Metress spoke after the game of what’s next for the Jaguars. 

“Told those guys in the locker room for the guys who are coming back that we want to be in the same situation next year,” said Metress. “We’ve got to hit the recruiting trail starting tomorrow and find some guys who bring the same thing to the program that those four guys brought.” 

The four seniors finished with 109 victories and won 82 percent of their games. They averaged 30 wins their last two seasons and were part of three Peach Belt Conference championships and made the NCAA Division II championship game as juniors.

Contact Carlos Rodriguez at carrodriguez@augusta.edu.

Tyree Myers closed out his AU career with a 20-point game, but it was not enough to upend the Pacers. At the top of the page, 7-foot-1 center Tyshaun Crawford, who was held to 15 points, is harassed by the USC Aiken defense. (photos by Madison Keel)

AU’s Ja’Queze Kirby (13) makes a pass during AU’s NCAA Division II Southeast Regional semifinal contest with USC Aiken, which will play Lincoln Memorial in the region championship on March 14 at 7 p.m. at Christenberry Fieldhouse. (photo by Madison Keel)