COLUMBUS, Ga. -- Augusta State captured the Peach Belt Conference regular-season championship Wednesday night with a 102-91 Peach Belt Conference victory over Columbus State in the Lumpkin Center.
The victory puts the No. 10 Jaguars four games ahead of Clayton State and Armstrong Atlantic State in the PBC South Division with three games remaining in the regular season. The No. 16 Lakers suffered a 58-55 overtime loss at home to Georgia Southwestern Wednesday.
The title is the first for ASU since sharing the regular-season crown with Lander and Georgia College & State during the 1998-99 season.
The victory was the 13th straight for the Jaguars and improved ASU to 21-3 overall and 13-0 in the PBC. The winning streak is the second-longest in school history, eclipsed only by the 1969-70 Jaguar squad that win 18 in a row. The win was the first regular-season victory in Columbus since the 2001-02 season, when ASU won 84-72 on Jan. 23.
Junior forward AJ Bowman poured in a game-high 29 points and pulled down nine rebounds to lead ASU to its highest scoring output of the season. The 102 points marked the most for the Jaguars since scoring 115 vs. Carver on Nov. 21, 2004 in head coach Dip Metress’ second game at the helm of the Jaguar program.
Freshman point guard Daniel Dixon tallied a career-high 20 points, as did sophomore center Garret Siler. Junior guard Demetrius Howard, starting in place of Ben Madgen, had 16 points, his highest scoring output since opening the season with 19 at Carson-Newman on Nov. 18.
The Jaguars, who led by as much as 20 in the first half and owned a 41-34 lead at halftime, exploded for a season-high 61 points in the second half. ASU shot 60.7 percent from the field in the first half and 59.0 percent from the field for the game.
In the women’s contest, Columbus State dominated the glass, outrebounding ASU 49-28 en route to a 65-53 victory.
The loss snapped a seven-game Lady Jaguar winning streak and dropped ASU to 16-7 overall and 8-5 in league play. The Lady Cougars improved to 17-7 and 9-4 in the PBC.
Senior guard Ron Robinson led Columbus State in scoring with 18 points and was one of six Cougars in double figures.
The Lady Cougars jumped out to a 9-0 lead, but the Lady Jags answered with a 14-0 run of their own to grab the lead. Nicole Mealing capped the big run with a three-pointer at the 13:38 mark. CSU chipped away at the ASU lead and was able to pull ahead 18-17 at the 6:05 mark on a Kayleigh Epps layup. After ASU went up again by four on Alla Batovska's trey and a pair of Brittany Jarrard free throws, CSU used a 7-0 run to take a 25-22 lead on Shanrika Hardeman's free-throw with 2:50 left and went into halftime up 28-26.
ASU scored the first four points of the second half on baskets by Shirrell Ford and Batovska to take a 30-28 lead less than a minute in. That would prove to be the only lead of the half for the Lady Jags, however, as CSU ran off 12 consecutive points to go up 40-30 with 15:43 left. An Epps triple capped the run for CSU.
The Lady Jags got as close as five after a 6-0 spurt later in the half. Jasmine Godwin's layup with 10:36 capped the run for ASU to make it 45-40. That would prove to be as close as the visitors could get the rest of the way, however, as CSU pushed the lead back to 51-41 a couple of minutes later. ASU got 10 points from Batovska and 11 from Godwin off the bench to lead the offense. As a team, the Lady Jags hit just 20 of 72 shots - taking 23 more field goal attempts than CSU. Sherika Parker was the top rebounder for ASU with five boards. As a team, the Lady Jags committed just 12 turnovers in the game.
ASU hosts UNC Pembroke for Homecoming on Saturday, Feb. 17 at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. in Christenberry Fieldhouse.
Official Basketball Box Score Augusta State vs Columbus State 02/14/07 7:30 PM at Columbus, GA...Lumpkin Center -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Augusta State 21-3, 13-0 PBC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS 23 Bowman, Tyrekus..... f 13-18 0-1 3-6 4 5 9 4 29 1 3 0 3 33 21 Siler, Garret....... c 7-11 0-0 6-10 3 1 4 4 20 0 2 0 0 18 00 Dixon, Daniel....... g 6-9 6-9 2-2 0 3 3 4 20 7 3 0 0 30 02 Smith, Steve........ g 1-5 1-4 2-2 0 2 2 5 5 1 3 0 2 19 03 Howard, Demetrius... g 5-10 5-9 1-2 0 3 3 1 16 8 2 0 0 37 04 Quarles, Jamie...... 3-3 0-0 0-0 0 1 1 1 6 2 2 0 0 8 15 Ilunga, Etsho....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 5 24 Thomas, Arthur...... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 33 Tambon, Luke........ 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 2 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 19 44 Small, Kip.......... 1-5 0-1 2-2 1 5 6 3 4 7 1 0 1 27 TEAM................ 3 4 7 Totals.............. 36-61 12-24 18-26 12 26 38 22 102 26 19 0 6 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 17-28 60.7% 2nd Half: 19-33 57.6% Game: 59.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 4-10 40.0% 2nd Half: 8-14 57.1% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 15-20 75.0% Game: 69.2% 3,1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Columbus State 14-10 7-6 PBC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS 01 Matthews, Travis.... g 5-9 0-1 4-5 0 1 1 2 14 2 1 0 1 34 04 Robinson, Ron....... g 5-13 1-6 7-10 0 3 3 2 18 1 5 0 5 24 10 Portis, Corris...... g 6-12 2-6 0-3 2 2 4 3 14 1 3 0 0 34 11 Miller, Sean........ g 5-10 3-6 4-4 0 1 1 5 17 3 1 0 0 30 15 Chandler, D.J....... g 2-4 0-2 0-0 0 2 2 2 4 1 0 0 0 19 05 Lawrence, Stefan.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0+ 12 Mallory, Patrick.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 21 Wilson, Justin...... 3-5 3-5 1-1 0 2 2 1 10 0 1 0 2 21 30 Neal, Battle........ 0-1 0-0 2-2 1 1 2 0 2 0 1 0 1 13 55 Tarver, Jeff........ 5-6 1-2 1-1 3 6 9 4 12 2 1 1 0 22 TEAM................ Totals.............. 31-60 10-28 19-26 6 18 24 19 91 11 13 1 9 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-29 41.4% 2nd Half: 19-31 61.3% Game: 51.7% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-14 21.4% 2nd Half: 7-14 50.0% Game: 35.7% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 7-12 58.3% 2nd Half: 12-14 85.7% Game: 73.1% 3 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Bill Daprono, Glenn Tuitt, Brad Etter Technical fouls: Augusta State-TEAM. Columbus State-None. Attendance: 815 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Augusta State................. 41 61 - 102 Columbus State................ 34 57 - 91 Official Basketball Box Score Augusta State vs Columbus State 02/14/07 5:30 p.m. at Columbus, Ga. (Lumpkin Center) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- VISITORS: Augusta State 16-7, 8-5 PBC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS 15 Ford, Shirrell...... f 4-7 0-1 0-0 3 1 4 1 8 2 2 1 1 26 24 Paschal, Tracey..... f 0-6 0-0 0-0 1 1 2 3 0 0 0 0 0 18 54 Parker, Sherika..... f 3-7 0-0 0-2 2 3 5 2 6 0 0 1 1 11 04 Batovska, Alla...... g 4-12 2-5 0-0 0 4 4 1 10 1 3 0 0 26 30 Ngulela, Deo........ g 3-11 2-6 0-0 0 1 1 4 8 2 1 0 4 26 20 Wyatt, Jamica....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 21 Jarrard, Brittany... 0-8 0-5 4-4 0 2 2 2 4 4 3 0 1 28 22 Godwin, Jasmine..... 4-9 1-2 2-5 1 0 1 1 11 0 0 0 0 17 23 Roberts, Taliah..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 25 Mealing, Nicole..... 2-12 2-7 0-0 2 1 3 2 6 3 2 0 3 21 33 Paschal, Tiffany.... 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 2 0 0 1 1 3 19 TEAM................ 2 1 3 Totals.............. 20-72 7-26 6-11 12 16 28 18 53 12 12 3 13 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-37 24.3% 2nd Half: 11-35 31.4% Game: 27.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 5-14 35.7% 2nd Half: 2-12 16.7% Game: 26.9% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 3-6 50.0% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 54.5% 2,1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Columbus State 17-7, 9-4 PBC TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS 30 Hardeman, Shanrika.. f 3-6 0-0 4-6 3 6 9 2 10 3 2 0 1 26 33 Walker, Cherwonna... c 5-12 0-0 5-6 2 8 10 1 15 0 2 1 0 23 10 Epps, Kayleigh...... g 4-9 1-2 0-0 2 3 5 2 9 2 3 3 0 24 20 Petersen, Tamara.... g 3-6 0-1 3-3 0 1 1 2 9 4 5 1 2 33 23 Ringfield, Lauren... g 1-2 1-1 0-0 0 7 7 0 3 1 6 0 0 20 05 Washington, Thessa.. 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 14 Whitlock, Arlanderia 1-2 0-1 0-0 0 1 1 0 2 0 1 0 0 7 22 Stafford, Ashley.... 3-6 0-0 1-2 1 5 6 2 7 0 4 0 0 16 24 Ferdinand, Chauntel. 3-3 1-1 1-2 2 4 6 1 8 0 2 0 0 25 25 Sicka, Monica....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 45 Beverly, Ashleigh... 1-3 0-0 0-0 0 2 2 1 2 0 1 0 1 22 TEAM................ 2 2 1 Totals.............. 24-49 3-6 14-19 10 39 49 11 65 10 27 5 4 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 9-26 34.6% 2nd Half: 15-23 65.2% Game: 49.0% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 0-1 0.0% 2nd Half: 3-5 60.0% Game: 50.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 10-15 66.7% 2nd Half: 4-4 100 % Game: 73.7% 3,4 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Melissa Lewis, J.T. Turner, Mark Henson Technical fouls: Augusta State-None. Columbus State-None. Attendance: 463 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total Augusta State................. 26 27 - 53 Columbus State................ 28 37 - 65 Points in the paint-ASU 18,CSU 30. Points off turnovers-ASU 18,CSU 12. 2nd chance points-ASU 14,CSU 15. Fast break points-ASU 4,CSU 6. Bench points-ASU 21,CSU 19. Score tied-3 times. Lead changed-6 times. Last FG-ASU 2nd-01:18, CSU 2nd-02:39.