Top-Seeded Augusta Uses Second-Half Surge to Advance in PBC Tournament

AUGUSTA, GA – After trailing 38-30 at the half, the top-seeded and 10th ranked Augusta Jaguars outscored eighth-seeded Georgia Southwestern 59-28 to take an 89-66 win in the quarterfinal round of the PBC men’s basketball tournament on Tuesday at Christenberry Fieldhouse. With the win, the Jaguars (26-3) will host the semifinal and final rounds of the tournament this Friday and Saturday, March 4-5. Game times will be announced by the conference office on Wednesday.

Georgia Southwestern (10-17) was in control for the first 20 minutes, shooting 52% (13-25) from the field in the first half while AU connected on only nine of 24 shots from the floor. The Hurricanes opened the game with a 12-3 run capped by a Kahlon Whitley three-pointer. That lead grew to 10 following a Devon Higgs jumper, but Augusta responded with a 9-2 that cut the lead to three with 12:10 to go.

The GSW defense then kept AU off the scoreboard for over three minutes, scoring seven unanswered and keeping the Jaguars at arms’ length for the remainder of the half, leading by eight at the break.

The lead remained in double-digits for the opening minutes of the second before Augusta found a rhythm. Miguel Arnold’s three-pointer started a 17-2 run that gave the Jaguars their first lead of the game. Troy Cracknell capped the surge with a three-pointer to give AU a 48-45 lead.

GSW answered with a three from Jacorie Archie to tie things at 48, but that would be the last points for the Hurricanes for over three minutes as AU scored 13 in a row. A David Viti three-point play pushed the Augusta lead to over 20 as the Jaguars shot 69% (20-29) in the second half, 10-16 (63%) from three-point range.

Arnold led AU wit 22 points on 8-for-14 shooting, including 4-for-7 from long range. Tyshaun Crawford added 19 and a team-high eight rebounds. Cracknell and Viti scored 14 each.

Georgia Southwestern was led by 20 points from Archie with Whitley adding 13 and Jamari Dean 12 points and eight rebounds.

Augusta will meet fifth-seeded Columbus State in the tournament semifinals. CSU was a 91-74 winner on the road at #4 USC Aiken. Second-seeded Flagler and sixth-seeded Lander will meet in the other semifinal.

The PBC Championship game will be played in Augusta on Saturday at 7:00 pm.

No. 25 Flagler backcourt leads the way past North Georgia

ST. AUGUSTINE – No. 25 (NABC Division II Top 25) Flagler College got a combined 42 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists from its backcourt duo of Jaizec Lottie and Derrick Ellis, Jr. in a 69-59 win over the University of North Georgia in a Peach Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament quarterfinal game Tuesday night at Flagler Gymnasium.

Flagler improved to 22-6 overall and North Georgia wraps up its season with a 14-14 record. Flagler, the No. 2 seed, will face No. 6 Lander University on Friday at Augusta, Georgia. Lander knocked off the No. 3 seed Georgia College 83-79.

“I loved what I saw from our team tonight,” said head coach Chad Warner. “I thought we competed and defended well. March basketball is usually going to come down to those that.”

After trailing for most of the first 10 minutes of the game, the Saints rallied behind an 18-5 run midway through the first half to take control of the game. Lottie capped the run with a driving layup with 2:45 left to go and gave Flagler a 29-19 lead.

The Saints took a 32-23 lead into the half.

Flagler held a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half. The Saints shot a red-hot 60.9 percent from the field in the second half.

Lottie led all scorers with 25 points and he added eight rebounds to his line. Ellis, Jr. supplied 17 points, a game high seven assists and five rebounds. Jalen Barr grabbed a game high 12 rebounds and blocked three shots.

The Saints dominated inside outscoring the Nighthawks 44-20.

Kody Shubert, Malik Hardy, and Eric Jones each tallied 11 points for North Georgia. Frank Champion finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and five assists.

North Georgia was limited to 32.3 percent shooting from the field.

Lander Men's basketball upsets Georgia College on the road to advance to the PBC semifinals

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. - The Lander men's basketball team played the role of spoiler for Georgia College, as the No. 6 seeded Bearcats took down the No. 3 seeded Bobcats 83-79 on the road in the PBC quarterfinals on Tuesday.

Lander moves to 14-14 overall while Georgia College drops 21-7 overall with the loss.

Tommy Moore led the Bearcats in scoring with 19 points. He went 3-of-4 from 3-point range along with 4-of-6 from the free-throw line. DaJuan Moorer, Nigel Colvin and Jared Sherfield joined Moore in double-figure scoring.

Lander shot 57.4 percent from the field for the game while shooting 50 percent from beyond the arc against the Bobcats.

Lander started strong against the Bobcats, as the Bearcats took a 41-27 lead into the half. Lander shot 64.0 percent from the floor and 66.7 percent from 3-point range. Georgia College shot 32.3 percent from the floor and 23.1 percent from 3-point range.

The Bearcats would score the game's first points when DeShundre Rucker converted a layup with 18:37 left to make it a 2-0 contest. The two sides would battle until a jumper from Rucker made it 7-4 with 15:50 left in the first half. Rucker would finish with seven points in the first frame for the Blue and Gold.

It wouldn't be until a Moorer jumper with 7:58 that Lander would start to make strides. Up 22-19 after the Moorer jump shot, a 3-pointer from Moore would push Lander ahead 25-21 with 6:53 left. Back-to-back layups from Moorer gave Lander a 29-23 edge with 5:13 remaining while Colvin and Moore would combine for the next five point to help Lander's lead grow to 34-25. Lander would have its lead grow to 14 points twice in the last two minutes, as a 3-pointer from Moore made it a 39-25 contest with 1:33 left and a last-second jumper from Colvin restored the lead to 14, putting Lander up 41-27 at the half.

Moore led all scorers at the half with 10 points with a 2-for-2 performance from deep and a 2-of-3 performance from the free-throw line.

The second half would see Georgia College turn on the jets, as the Bobcats made things very interesting for the Bearcats.

Although seeing Lander up its advantage to 18 points off a layup from Moore to make it a then 64-46 game with 10:50 in the second, The Bobcats would battle back to within two points of Lander with nine seconds remaining.

With the win Tuesday night, Lander has defeated Georgia College on the road for the first time since February 25, 2015 when the Bearcats won 83-65. Lander would hold strong and come away with the 83-79 victory.

Coach Omar Wattad also earned his first postseason victory as the head coach of the Bearcats.

The Bearcats will play in the PBC Tournament semifinals on March 4 in Augusta, Ga.

Cougar Basketball Moves Into PBC Tournament Semifinals

AIKEN, S.C. - The fifth-seeded Columbus State University men's basketball team led nearly wire-to-wire in an overwhelming 91-74 victory over fourth-seeded USC Aiken in the Peach Belt Conference Tournament semifinals in the Convocation Center on Wednesday night.

The Cougars (20-9) led for 93% of the game and closed out the Pacers by outscoring USCA 17-7 over the final six minutes of the game.

"These guys didn't want their season to end tonight," commented head coach Robert Moore. "So many different people stepped up and contributed tonight. It was a team win, and we got to continue to fight. We can enjoy this one for the night, but we are 0-0 when the sunrises in the morning."

Columbus State nearly had three 20-point scorers on Wednesday, with Hunter Preston leading the way with a 25-point and 10-rebound double-double. Langston Gaither and Grant Howard had 19, while Devan Porter-Wilson chipped in 11.

CSU gained control of the game early after USC Aiken jumped out to a quick 4-2 lead. A Lederrius Jones basket jumped started a 15-4 run, putting the Cougars in front 17-8 eight minutes in. 

After CSU took its first double-digit lead of the night, the Pacers fought back, getting within four (29-25) after going 4-for-4 from the floor in a 9-3 run. Columbus State stifled the attack, thanks to Gaither and Preston. The duo scored the final 13 points of the first half to give the Cougars a 42-36 lead.

Columbus State had another response for a USC Aiken push early in the second half. The Pacers cut the deficit to four (45-41) at the 17:15 mark before the Cougars rattled off a 12-1 run to go up 57-42. CSU got hot from deep as Porter-Wilson nailed two 3-pointers while Preston added another.

Howard had the dagger at the 9:20 mark after a long 3-pointer began a 10-4 run that saw CSU grab a 77-65 lead with just over five minutes to go. The Cougars would then cruise to the win.

Columbus State shot an impressive 57.1% (36-for-63) from the floor and was 9-for-24 (37.5%) from long range. 

Preston Parks scored 18 for the Pacers as the team shot 43.1% (25-for-58) from the floor. USCA was just 27.3% (6-for-22) on 3-point attempts.

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Columbus State will play 10th-ranked and top-seeded Augusta University in the PBC Tournament semifinals on Friday, March 4. Tipoff time will be announced on Wednesday.