Senior Darren Lucas-White scored on an assist from Tyshaun Crawford to give Augusta University a 71-70 lead with 39 seconds left. Then Lucas-White drew an offensive foul on the next possession to help seal No. 13 Augusta’s 73-70 win over Bowie State in Thursday morning’s Education Day game in front of more than 2,000 enthusiastic fifth graders from the Richmond County School system.
“I just came in with a lot of energy because I just wanted to show up for the kids, you know,” Lucas-White explained to Charles McNeil, the voice of the Jaguars, moments after the victory.
Lucas-White, who scored 12 points, grabbed 5 rebounds and snagged 3 steals in the win, sported stitches above his left eye during the post game interview. He had to leave the game momentarily after suffering a cut when he was fouled while trying to score in the open court with 6:29 remaining.
“I got hit in my eye. I thought nothing of it,” Lucas-White said. “So I tried to wipe the sweat off my face, and I ended up seeing blood on my hand. So I went to the side (to get stitched up). But I’m tough. I could’ve just kept going.”
Fellow senior Miguel Arnold, who led all scorers with 19 points, shot two free throws in Lucas-White’s place, making one to give the Jaguars a 58-57 lead that they relinquished seconds later when Mark Bradshaw buried a three pointer to give Bowie State a 60-58 lead with 6:04 left in the game. Bradshaw led Bowie State in scoring with 17 points.
During the next five minutes, Augusta tied the game four times, but the Jaguars were unable to take another lead until the final minute of play. Tyshaun Crawford, who scored 15 points and grabbed a game high 8 rebounds, sank two free throws with 5:07 remaining to tie the game at 60. David Viti tipped in a missed three point attempt by Tyree Myers to even the score at 62 with 4:06 left. Then Arnold made a jump hook in the paint after losing control of the ball to tie things at 64 with 2:42 remaining. Finally Lucas-White, back with stitches after missing only 82 seconds of game action, tipped in a missed three point attempt by Arnold to even the score a final time at 66 with 1:47 remaining.
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After Bradshaw answered with a pair of free throws, Arnold gave Augusta a 69-68 lead with 1:09 remaining. Tyree Myers assisted on the play.
Joel Webb quickly answered with a dunk on the other end to set up Lucas-White’s ending flurry. Lucas-White’s go ahead basket was created by the attention that 7’1” senior center Tyshaun Crawford attracted when Tyree Myers fed him in the low block. The double team and the gravity Crawford created allowed the opening for Lucas-White to get free for the layup. But immediately before the go ahead basket, nineteen year head coach Dip Metress had called a set play to get Lucas-White the ball in isolation for a drive to the rim. The play worked, but Lucas-White was stripped right before he elevated for the layup. Bowie State touched the ball last before the ball squirted out of bounds to set up the baseline out of bounds scenario that ended with Crawford’s assist to Lucas-White.
“We put the ball in Darren’s hands to win the game,” Metress told McNeil after the game. “I was happy for him. He made a big bucket.”
Augusta improved to 6-1 for the season, benefiting from the return of star sophomore Ja’Queze Kirby, who hadn’t been able to play since the second game of the season because of an ankle injury. Kirby didn’t appear to be running and jumping at the level that fans are used to seeing from the native of Hazlehurst, Georgia. But his contribution during the first half was crucial as the Jaguars took a 42-31 advantage into the halftime break.
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During the first half alone, Kirby scored 9 points on 3 made three pointers, and he grabbed 4 rebounds. He also snagged 2 steals for the game during 26 minutes of action. Metress mentioned Kirby’s impact during the postgame interview.
“We got Kirby back today too. If we didn’t have Kirby, we’re probably not up at halftime,” Metress told McNeil. “So hopefully he keeps getting better and better.”
Augusta’s saw its double-digit halftime lead cut to 4 before the under sixteen-minute media timeout. And by the six-minute mark, Bowie State had tied the game as the Jaguars were only able to score 15 points in the first 14 minutes of the second half.
“We came out for the second half,” Metress explained. “We were up eleven with the ball. We scored 10 points in the first 10 minutes. They got to the free throw line, one-and-one, before the first media timeout in the second half.
Augusta’s rhythm was disrupted in part because of foul trouble. With 16:17 remaining David Viti had already recorded 4 fouls, and Darren Lucas-White and Ja’Queze Kirby had each picked up 3. And Tyshaun Crawford, who has been Augusta’s most consistent player this season, picked up his third foul at the twelve-minute mark and his fourth with four minutes remaining. Crawford and Arnold combined to score 19 of Augusta’s 31 second half points as the Jaguars held on to win the first of a four-game home stand.
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Augusta will host Georgia Southwestern Saturday at 3:30 P.M. in the Peach Belt Conference opener. The Jaguars won the Peach Belt Conference regular season and tournament championships last season, marking the second time that seniors Tyree Myers, Miguel Arnold and Darren Lucas-White had accomplished such a sweep during their time together in Augusta. Of course, after conquering the PBC last season Augusta would go on to earn an NCAA Division II Tournament Southeast Region championship before finally falling in the national championship game.
But Saturday’s opener begins another challenge for Jaguars old and new. Coach Metress’s first goal for the team every season is to earn a regular season conference championship. And the feat is never easy. Even last season’s team, which won a school record 33 games, lost its first league game and only got off to a 3-3 start before winning 20 straight games leading up to the final day of the season.
Follow Chad Cook’s coverage of local sports on Facebook and Instagram at @AugustaPressSports, and on Twitter at @AugPressSports.
