Augusta University defeated Lander 86-72 Sunday at Christenberry Fieldhouse to win the team’s second straight Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship. After falling behind 22-4 in the first five minutes, Augusta outscored its opponent 82-50 to finish the game.
The Jaguars were led by tournament MVP Tyshaun Crawford, who scored 31 points and grabbed 9 rebounds.
Tyshaun Crawford scored 14 points in the first 6:15 of the second half to help Augusta take a 58-43 lead over Lander with 13:40 remaining. pic.twitter.com/X2VOFdMQnO
— Augusta Press Sports (@AugPressSports) March 5, 2023
Fellow senior Miguel Arnold added 16 points on 7 of 11 field goal shooting. Arnold was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Junior David Viti came off the bench to score 11 points. Viti made 4 of his 7 field goal attempts, including 3 of 5 from behind the three point line. Senior Tyree Myers scored 11 points and grabbed 7 rebounds. And fellow senior Darren Lucas-White stuffed the stat sheet with 9 points, 9 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.
Augusta forced Lander to commit 16 turnovers, while the Jaguars only made 3 miscues. Augusta also snagged 15 offensive rebounds compared to 3 for the Bearcats. And the Jaguars made 21 of 26 free throw attempts while Lander only went to the line eight times.
Arnold, Myers and Lucas-White all came to Augusta as freshman and won a conference tournament championship in the 2018-2019 season, making Sunday’s championship their third in four seasons together. Crawford, who joined the team for the 2019-2020 season, has won back-to-back PBC Tournament MVP honors.
After finishing 26-5, earning a share of the regular season conference championship and winning the conference tournament, Augusta earned the No. 1 seed in the Southeast Region for the coming Division II NCAA Tournament. That means Augusta will host the first three rounds of the NCAA Tournament for the Southeast Region this Saturday, Sunday and the following Tuesday.
Representing the Southeast Region as the No. 1⃣ seed, @AugMBB!#D2MBB | #MakeItYours pic.twitter.com/eunTv5DTTb
— NCAA Division II (@NCAADII) March 6, 2023
