The final national poll was just released and Augusta University (26-5) moved up 8 spots to No. 10 ahead of this Saturday’s NCAA Tournament opening rounds.
Hours after earning a Peach Belt Conference Tournament Championship Sunday afternoon, Augusta was awarded the No. 1 seed and the privilege of hosting the Division II NCAA Tournament Southeast Region. Beginning at noon, four first round games will be played this Saturday. The winners from day one will square off Sunday at 5:00 and 7:30 in the region semifinals. Finally, the championship game will be held Tuesday evening.
Game times for Saturday, March 11:
12:00 p.m.
Lincoln Memorial vs Lander
2:30 p.m.
UNC Pembroke vs Lander
5:00 p.m.
Augusta vs Emmanuel
7:30 p.m.
USC Aiken vs Catawba
Augusta will enter Saturday’s opening round on a six-game winning streak after defeating Lander 86-72 in the Peach Belt Conference Championship game Sunday. The Jaguars fell behind 16-0 before snapping into action and taking a 38-36 lead into halftime behind 14 first half points by Miguel Arnold, who earned All-Tournament honors to go along with the First Team All-Conference recognition he received earlier in the week.
MORE: Augusta wins second straight PBC Championship, earns Southeast Region No. 1 seed
Arnold scored 10 straight points late in the first half. But before that stretch came timely contributions off the bench by Darren Lucas-White and David Viti. Lucas-White made steals on back-to-back defensive possessions for Augusta to swing the momentum back towards the Jaguars.
Viti made 3 of his 4 field goal attempts during the first half for 8 points that helped close the gap before Arnold went to work. Viti averaged 11.3 points per game and made 6 of 10 three point attempts combined during last week’s three conference tournament games.
Augusta extended its momentum during the second half of the championship game. Tournament MVP Tyshaun Crawford scored 14 of his game high 31 points in the first 6:15 minutes of the half to help the Jaguars open up a 58-43 lead.
Augusta’s extraordinary defensive effort resulted in 16 turnovers by Lander. By comparison, Augusta committed only 3 miscues.
Finally, an Augusta win as impressive as Sunday’s wouldn’t be complete without a dose of high flying action from sophomore Ja’Queze Kirby.
MORE: Sports Squad: Panel discusses Augusta University win over North Georgia
Augusta’s NCAA Tournament First Round opponent is familiar to the Jaguars. Augusta has faced Emmanuel, this season’s Conference Carolinas tournament champion, once during each of the last five seasons. Four of those five games have been played in Augusta, and Augusta has been victorious in four of the five games. Emmanuel defeated the Jaguars 74-71 in Augusta during the 2019-2020 season.
The most recent meeting came on New Year’s Eve this season when the Jaguars defeated Emmanuel 91-77 in Augusta. Arnold led the Jaguars in scoring with 26 points on 10 of 11 field goal shooting. Tyshaun Crawford added 21 points, Ja’Queze Kirby contributed 14 and Darren Lucas-White chipped in 12.
Five players scored in double figures for Emmanuel, including KJ Jones (13 points), who currently leads the nation in scoring at 26.4 points per game. The 13 points he scored against Augusta was the only time this season Jones scored fewer than 19 points in a game.
After losing in Augusta, Emmanuel dropped its next game against Barton College. The Lions then went on a sixteen-game winning streak that Emmanuel will ride into Saturday’s game.
Follow Chad Cook’s coverage of local sports on Facebook and Instagram at @AugustaPressSports, and on Twitter at @AugPressSports.
