Tyree Myers, nicknamed “the closer” by his teammates, lived up to his moniker Saturday in leading No. 9 Augusta to a 76-66 road win over Columbus State. Myers scored 5 points in a 57-second span to put the Jaguars ahead 66-60 with 2:46 remaining, a lead that would not be threatened in the final minutes.
“The drives. The jump shots,” nineteen year head coach Dip Metress reflected about his senior point guard’s performance in a post game telephone interview. “I would argue that, even though he closed the game, he closed the first half too. He was really good. He definitely was the closer again today, no question.”
Metress was referring to when Myers engineered a 12-0 run during the final 2:19 of the first half that all but erased a 13-point deficit and cut Columbus State’s lead to 36-35 at halftime. During the pivotal stretch, Myers scored or assisted on 10 of the team’s 12 points, providing timely playmaking while 7’1” senior center Tyshaun Crawford was forced to sit on the bench because of foul trouble.
Myers scored 15 points and dished a game high 6 assists. Four teammates also scored in double figures, led by fellow senior Miguel Arnold, who scored 21 points, including 18 in the second half. Arnold also grabbed 6 rebounds and snagged four steals. Arnold drew praise from Metress for his play on both ends of the court.
“Miguel was good… he was special,” Metress said. “He did a really good job defensively guarding the ball, too.”
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Crawford scored 13 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and dished 4 assists. But one of his most important contributions might have been a play that didn’t get recorded in the stat sheet.
“Tyshaun dove on a loose ball and called timeout on the first play of the second half,” Metress said about the Peach Belt Conference’s leading scorer. “After that we only had one timeout left. I told them ‘We have a veteran squad. We should be able to win without timeouts. And if you’re diving on the floor to get loose balls, we’re gonna win this game.’ He (Crawford) started the stretch of everybody diving on loose balls.”
The stretch Metress is referring to is the final 20 minutes of the game, when Augusta held Columbus State to only 30 points. Augusta’s extra effort on defense resulted in 24 points for the Jaguars off of Columbus State’s 13 turnovers, while the Cougars were only able to manage 8 points off of Augusta’s 7 miscues.
The Jaguars also converted more of their opportunities at the free throw line than the home team. Augusta made 17 of 18 attempts during the second half, while Columbus made just 5 out of 12.
“I always say,” Metress continued. “If you make your free throws, and you don’t turn the ball over, and you rebound the ball on the road, you’ll have a chance to win.”
Senior Darren Lucas-White scored 12 points, and sophomore Ja’Queze Kirby added 11. Both Lucas-White and Kirby made all four of their free throws attempts.
The win was Augusta’s seventh straight, and the No. 9 ranked Jaguars (15-1, 6-0) remain undefeated in Peach Belt Conference action. Next up for Augusta is a road game Wednesday against Georgia Southwestern (8-6, 2-4) before the Jaguars return home Saturday, February 21 for a 3:30 P.M. game against Flagler (8-9, 2-4).
Follow Chad Cook’s coverage of local sports on Facebook and Instagram at @AugustaPressSports, and on Twitter at @AugPressSports.
