COLUMBUS, Ga. – The No. 2 East seed Augusta Jaguars (18-11) went to double overtime with No. 1 East seed Lander (22-9) in the Peach Belt Conference Championship game, but the Jaguars fell 87-86 on a put-back basket with two seconds left in the Lumpkin Center Sunday afternoon on the campus of Columbus State University.
The game went in double overtime after the teams were tied 62-all in regulation and matched 13 points in the first OT. Senior Keshun Sherrill hit a three pointer to tie the game 81-all with 3:00 in regulation and under two minutes Augusta was down 85-84 after two free throws from senior Tommy Williams.
Sherrill tied the game 85-85 with a free throw and hit one of two in the next possession to give the Jags an 86-85 lead. Lander drove the floor, grabbed an offense rebound off their missed jumper and kissed in a put-back layup for an 87-86 victory.
With the win, Lander earns the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament with regional play on March 12-15. Check NCAA.com for the LIVE SELECTION SHOW at 10:30 p.m. tonight.
The Jags' last appearance in the PBC Championship game was in the 2010-11 season when they beat UNC Pembroke 76-59. Since 1992, Augusta has won the conference tournament four times and has made seven appearances total.
The Jaguars won six straight games to reach the conference finale and they were led by Sherrill's 27 game-high points. T. Williams carded another double-double with 24 points and 12 rebounds, and senior Trevor Foreman produced 10 points, nine boards, and four steals.
Sophomore Tamyrik Fields had six points, five boards, and a pair of blocks and assists. The Jags outshot Lander with a 44.3 field-goal percentage to the Bearcats' 42.9 percent, but the three-point shot plagued Augusta. The Jaguars were 8-22 on 36.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc, while Lander connected on 9-18 for an even 50 percent.
Lander was led by Randy Colter's 24 bench points and JR Washington and Tobiasz Hose's 20 each. The Bearcats bench outscored Augusta 26-17 in a contest that had 13 lead changes and 11 tied scores.
Sherrill's jumper a minute and a half into the game opened scoring on the day, but Lander hit a few three pointers and a pair of free throws from Sergio Smith to lead 10-5. Lander was 4-4 on three-point attempts through the opening 10 minutes and built a 14-point lead with 3:18 left in the first half.
At the break the Jags trailed 33-25. Lander was 10-11 at the free-throw line in the first half, while Augusta was 5-9. Neither team shot well from field-goal range in the first half with both teams shooting below 40 percent. The Jags were paced by Sherrill, Fields, and Monroe with six apiece in the first 20 minutes.
In the second half, Augusta senior Trevor Foreman came out hitting a trey and layup before T. Williams made two free throws and a layup for a one-bucket game down 36-34. At the second media timeout in the second half, Augusta was down by one point after Sherrill's three pointer.
The Jags took their first lead since tipoff with a T. Williams jumper at the 15:05 mark for a 39-38 advantage and the game remained close into the closing minutes.
Sherrill tied the game with a pair at the charity stripe and his jumper pushed Augusta up 59-57 with 2:45 in the game. The game went into overtime 62-all and after each team was even in the first extra period, the Lander held on for the win.
Fans of Jaguar Athletics can subscribe to the email listserve by clicking here. Fans can follow Augusta University at www.augustajags.com and receive short updates on Facebook at Augusta University Athletics and on Twitter at @AugustaJags
-- 30 --