By Chris Gay
Staff Writer, Augusta Chronicle
When Augusta State men's basketball coach Gary Tuell underwent
an appendectomy Jan. 5, Buck Harris filled in.
The smooth transition under the assistant coach led to four
straight Peach Belt Conference wins, keeping Augusta State at the
top of the standings, and the Jaguars ended the regular season with
their third straight North Division title.
With the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, Augusta won its
first PBC Tournament title and qualified for the NCAA Division II
Tournament.
``When I had my appendectomy he won four games,'' Tuell said. ``We
may not have gotten the No. 1 seed without him.''
Under Harris' guidance, Augusta State knocked off Columbus State,
USC Spartanburg, UNC Pembroke and Lander for four important
conference wins. The only loss while Tuell was out came against
Paine College, a nonconference opponent.
Today, the Jaguars (20-9) make their first Division II postseason
appearance in 23 years when they take on Catawba College (25-4) in
the first round of the Division II Tournament at 6 p.m. at Brayboy
Gymnasium in Charlotte, N.C. The game will be broadcast live on
WBBQ 1340-AM.
``We're playing defense as good as we can right now,'' Jaguars
guard Gary Boodnikoff said. ``Offense comes, but we're not shooting
the ball real well. When everyone's hitting, we're
unstoppable.''
Catawba has won eight straight games, including the South Atlantic
Conference tournament. Six-foot-six, 200-pound guard Nedzad Gusic
leads the team in points (15.3), rebounds (6.2) and assists (4.2).
Forward Brian Carter (13.1) and guard Kevin Petty (10.4) average
double figures in scoring, while freshman center Alex Luyk (6-9,
210) has a team-high 55 blocks. One of Catawba's biggest threats,
6-6 forward Terrance Hamilton, is out with a broken leg he suffered
in late January.
Augusta State counters with 6-11, 270-pound center Festus Hawkins,
the 6-7 Boodnikoff and 6-4 guard T.J. Ott. Hawkins has a team-high
16.9 points and averages eight rebounds per game, to go along with
66 blocks. Boodnikoff (15 ppg) is shooting 41 percent on
3-pointers, while Ott is scoring 13 ppg.
The Jaguars are No. 6 in the nation in free-throw percentage at a
76.3 clip - 78.5 percent in conference play - and No. 13 in scoring
defense (64.7 ppg).
``We feel we can beat anybody when we play our best,'' Jaguars
guard Jayme Johnson said. ``We just have to come ready to
play.''