Senior Tommy Williams paces August with 17 points and 10 rebounds
AUGUSTA, Ga. – In a double-overtime contest that saw 17 lead changes, the Augusta Jaguars fell 105-99 to the Young Harris Mountain Lions despite five Jaguars scoring in double figures on Monday afternoon in Peach Belt Conference action at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
All tied up at 70-all with two minutes to play, Augusta (9-7, 5-4 PBC) took a lead on freshman Deane Williams' three pointer in the corner. YHC (10-8, 8-1 PBC) hit two free throws, but Jaguar senior Tommy Williams was fouled on a defensive rebound and made both free throws under a minute. YHC's Ben Waterhouse answered and hit his second three pointer to tie the game and force the first overtime.
T. Williams returned to the charity stripe in OT and connected on both before hitting a jumper in the lane. Up 86-83 with 10 seconds dwindling, Augusta gave up a three pointer to C.J. Wilson to send the game into a second overtime. Two YHC free throws tied the game at 91-91 and J.B. Charles kissed in a layup for a 93-91 lead. A Wilson three pointer pushed the lead out of reach and the Jags fell in the final minutes.
T. Williams had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Augusta, junior Keshun Sherrill scored 19, and freshmen Aaron Byrd and Deane Williams each scored 14 in the loss. Augusta put up a 43.0 field-goal percentage in the game and YHC shot 45.6 percent from the floor.
YHC's Wilson ranks third in the PBC in scoring and ended the game with 29 points, 15 assists, and seven rebounds. The Mountain Lions outrebounded the Jags 57-44 and had eight three pointers to Augusta's four. The performance from the free-throw line made the difference as Augusta hit 21-of-32 (65.6 percent) and YHC 25-of-30 (83.3 percent).
YHC led first with the opening basket, but Fields connected on his first two field-goal attempts for the Jaguars to put the game into a tie. Eventually tied at 20-all, the game remained tight in the first half. Augusta led 28-26 with 3:35 to go before Keith Crump found D. Williams for a wide-open one-handed dunk.
The Jags led the remaining of the first half, but J.B. Charles hit a late corner three pointer to put YHC within one for a 35-34 halftime score. Augusta was led by Byrd's 11 points in the first half to go along with two steals and assists.
After shooting 33.3 percent from field-goal range in the opening half, the Jags overcame the offensive struggle in the second half and shot 50 percent in the second 20 minutes of regulation.
YHC made their first two shots to steal the lead at the start of the second half, but back-to-back step-back jumpers from Tyvez Monroe kept Augusta in a one-point affair. He scored on the next possession to lift the Jags back ahead, but the game stayed a one-bucket game with 10 minutes to play.
Each team answered bucket-for-bucket as the game saw 13tied scored on the day. The Mountain Lions led by one with 9:24 to play when T. Williams and Sherrill made consecutive layup to take a 64-59 advantage for the Jags.
After exchanging more baskets and another huge one-handed slam from D. Williams, the game moved to 70-68 with Ben Waterhouse burying a three ball for YHC. Eventually going to overtime, the game ended in extended fashion for YHC to prevail.
Both the Jaguar women and men return to action on Saturday, Jan. 23 for the "Miracle Game" doubleheader. Teaming up with Jaguar Miracle, the Jaguar men's and women's basketball teams will host the "Miracle Game" for the Peach Belt Conference doubleheader with the Flagler Saints at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. in Christenberry Fieldhouse. The game will serve to raise awareness and funds for Jaguar Miracle – benefitting the local Children's Miracle Network Hospital.
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