Columbia, S.C. – The Augusta University Men's Basketball team picked up a win today over the Benedict Tigers, 85-71, in a non-conference contest. The Jags improve to 3-2 on the season while Benedict falls to 3-4.
Benedict opened the scoring with a standard jumper a little over a minute into the game. The Jags would get on the board thanks to a three-pointer drained by Troy Cracknell only two minutes later. Half a minute later the Tigers tossed in a quick layup to retake the lead. However, this would be the last time the home squad would be on top, as Rafael Monteiro drove into the paint to lay one up for two.
The jags continued to dominate play for the first half. Benedict would pull within one just under the seven minute mark, but Miguel Arnold would spark a 15-5 run with a three-point field goal to give the Jags an 11 point cushion into halftime.
The second half saw the Tigers play nearly on par with the Jaguars, but Augusta kept their distance from their foe, outscoring them 47-42 in the half. the Jags led by seven or more points for the entire second, holding the Tigers to at most a four point run before answering back in kind.
For the game, Augusta was led by Darren Lucas-White and Arnold who each score 14 points on the night. Arnold went four-for-five from the field, including a perfect four-for-four from beyond the three.
Tyshaun Crawford nabbed six rebounds and a pair of blocks, while Tyree Myers swiped three steals on the night.
As a team, Augusta went 27-for-56 from the floor (48.2%) and nine-of-16 (56.3%) from beyond the arch. The Jags also drained 22 free throws on 32 attempts while nabbing 35 total rebounds.
Augusta returns home for their next game when they take on Barton on Saturday at 12:00 p.m.