AUGUSTA, GA – The Augusta Jaguars hit 27 of 28 free throws as a team and committed only three turnovers as they advanced to the Peach Belt Conference men’s basketball tournament final with an 87-75 win over Columbus State on Friday night. With the win, the top-seeded Jaguars return to the tournament championship game where they will meet second-seeded Flagler on Saturday at 7:00 pm.

Augusta leapt out to an early 11-5 lead following three free throws from Ja’Queze Kirby and led by eight following a Troy Cracknell three-pointer. The Cougars kept pace with a 7-0 run that cut the lead to one with 12:02 left in the first with a jumper from Nelson Haskin. Augusta responded with a 7-2 run capped by a layup from Darren Lucas-White that pushed the lead back to seven where it would hover for the remainder of the half. The Jaguars led at the break 38-32 and did not commit a turnover as a team.

The second half began with the Jaguars pushing the lead to 11 on a baseline dunk from Kirby, but again Columbus State kept pace. Haskin, who hit 10 of 14 shots in the game, answered with a dunk to cut the lead to seven. The lead shrank to five with 9:28 to play with a Christian Chambers layup, but the Cougars would get no closer as Augusta was flawless from the free throw line over the final 10 minutes, denying the Cougars any opportunity to close the gap.

Kirby and Tyree Myers each scored 18 to lead the Jaguars while Crawford added 16 and a game-high nine rebounds and was a perfect 8-for-8 from the line. Cracknell added 11 and four assists.

Haskin turned in a complete game for CSU, scoring a game-high 25 with seven rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Grant Howard added 22 for the Cougars and five assists while Langston Gaither scored 16.

The PBC Tournament championship game will begin at 7:00 pm on Saturday from Augusta.