AUGUSTA, Ga. – The Augusta University men's basketball team (12-8, 8-5 PBC) fell to the Georgia College Bobcats (15-7, 8-5 PBC) 82-78 on Wednesday night in a nail-biter that had fans at Christenberry Fieldhouse on their feet until the bitter end.
The Bobcats rode to victory on the shoulders of Terrell Harris, who tied his career-high point total with 32 on the night. Augusta junior Keshun Sherrill led the way scoring for the Jaguars with 29 points. Sherrill is ranked second in the PBC in points per game, while Harris sits third.
Augusta shot 45.5 percent on the night from the floor and 34.8 percent from three-point range, against Georgia College's 52.9 percent from the floor and 42.1 percent from three-point range.
The Jags outrebounded the Bobcats 34-to-27, but committed 11 turnovers to GC's eight. Each team hit 20 free throws, but the Jags were 20-of-30 and GC 20-of-25.
The Bobcats started the game hot, hitting their first two three-point attempts and jumping on top of the Jaguars 6-0. A three by Junior Keith Crump answered the Bobcats to get the Jaguars into the game. Augusta finally found their rhythm shooting, but five three-pointers by Georgia College kept Augusta at bay for the first part of the half.
Augusta fought back to tie the game with 6:30 left in the half after Tommy Williams muscled his way into the lane for the layup. That was as close as the Jaguars would get to holding a lead in the first half, however, as Georgia College would close the half on a 14-1 run, leading 40-27.
The Jaguars found themselves in a first-half deficit as a result of the Bobcats scoring seven points off of Augusta's five turnovers and outscoring the Jaguars 16-6 in the paint. Overall, Augusta struggled shooting in the first half, shooting just 35.7 percent from the floor and 25 percent from three-point range.
Jags senior Tommy Williams opened the second half with a three-point play, finishing off the free throw after the basket inside The Jaguars came out of the locker room with a newfound energy that got them right back into the game. They managed to draw the lead down to eight, forcing a timeout by Georgia College at the 13:00 mark.
The Jaguars continued their comeback and with 10:37 left in the game they found their first lead. After that, Augusta rode a hot streak of three-point shooting and a massive jam by Deane Williams to a 66-58 lead at the 8:00 media timeout.
The Bobcats weren't going to go down quietly, as they retook the lead with a no-look prayer three-pointer with 3:00 left, forcing the Jaguars to come back yet again. The Jaguars fought down to the wire, but would never regain the lead as Georgia College scraped out a narrow 82-78 win.
Augusta hosts the Armstrong Pirates on Saturday, Feb. 6 at 3:30 p.m. in Christenberry Fieldhouse.
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