The No. 10-ranked Augusta University men’s basketball split its two most recent games on a road trip through Florida and Georgia, bringing back one win and one loss from competitions during the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
The Augusta University No. 10-ranked men’s basketball team have now dropped two in a row with 4-2 on the season (2-2 in conference play) as the Augusta Jaguars lost to Georgia Southwestern Hurrricanes 67-66 on Jan. 16 but beat the Columbus State Cougars 80-73 last night.
Augusta had to play both games with a smaller roster of only eight, as five players were out of the game. Those five players are out for the foreseeable figure, according to the AU student newspaper, the Bell Ringer, and school athletic officials declined to say why, citing student privacy reasons.
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Highlights of the Columbus State game included five players scoring in the double digits. Darren Lucas-White led the Jag scoring with 25 points, and freshman John Whitehead III followed with 18 points. Lee Flenor, a sophomore, scored and additional 16 points, and Tyree Myers’ another 10.
At Soutwestern Georgia, Flenor led the way for the Jaguars, scoring 20 points, shooting 8-14 from the field, while also tallying nine rebounds. Other standouts include Tyshaun Crawford who finished with a double-double with a game high 15 rebounds and 11 points, and Darren Lucas-White adding 15 points and eight rebounds. Those three ended up being the three Jaguars that finished with double digit points.
Augusta was able to dominate on the glass, out rebounding GSW 47-35. Ultimately, Augusta lost the turnover battle 16-10, and allowing 24 points off of turnovers. For GSW, Augusta native Kahlon Whitley led his team with 24 points shooting 5-9 from three-point range.
The Hurricanes put together their best three-point shooting performance so far this year, making 10-27 of their 3-point shots (37 percent). The Jaguars were able to take a lead 47-46 with 10:45 in the second half, but that saw to be their last lead as they trailed the rest of the way.
Even after back-to-back losses and with this week’s rankings yet to come out, the Jaguars are the only Peach Belt Conference team to be ranked in the Top 25. Many teams however have yet to make their season debut.
River Gracey is a correspondent for The Augusta Press. Reach him at producers@theaugustapress.com
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