PBC Tournament - Augusta State Rains Threes on Lander, Advances to Semis

AIKEN – The top-seeded Augusta State Jaguars put on a three-point shooting clinic Friday afternoon en route to their 97-78 quarterfinal victory over eighth-seeded Lander in the Peach Belt Conference tournament at USC Aiken’s Convocation Center.

The Jaguars, who are ranked fifth nationally and improve to 24-4, netted a PBC tournament record 17 three pointers. ASU, scored a season-high 56 points in the first half and connected on 60.7 percent of their its shots for the game, earns the right to play the Georgia College/North Georgia winner in Saturday’s 6 p.m. semifinal. Lander finishes the season at 13-16.

Ben Madgen scored 19 of his game-high 24 points to lead all scorers as he connected on 8-of-12 field goals, including 6-of-8 threes, and dished off eight assists. Daniel Dixon was 5-of-8 from behind the arc and netted 19 points with six rebounds and four assists; while Garret Siler added 16 points and nine rebounds; and Caleb Brown had 10 points.

Houston Wright led the Bearcat with 19 points, while Darius Johnson added 14, Jacob Machoskay 12 and Ford Lawrence 11. Brent Harris led Lander in rebounds with 10. The two teams combined for 19-of-31 three pointers in the first half, with ASU taking a 56-36 halftime lead keyed by 12-of-20 threes.

The Bearcats took an early 2-0 lead at 18:38 and the two teams were tied three times before the Jaguars broke away on Madgen’s three-pointer to make it 9-6 with 15:57 left in the half.

ASU’s Brown and Dixon each hit threes to stretch the lead to 21-12 at 10:25, then the Jags took their first double-digit lead at 9:42 on a Siler’s field goal to make it 23-12. ASU went on an 11-2 run to take a 37-17 lead on Dixon’s steal and layup.

The Jags closed the first half with two baskets in the final four seconds after Dixon stroked a three-pointer then Smith stole the inbounds pass for a bucket at the buzzer.

ASU went inside to Siler and Fred Brathwaite early in the second half before Smith and Brown nailed threes en route to the Jags’ biggest lead of 26 points – 70-44 at 15:59.

For the game, ASU connected on 37-of-61 field goals for 60.7 percent, including 17-o-f-29 three-pointers for 58.6 percent. The Jaguars also made 6-of-10 free throws for 60 percent.

Lander was 29-of-70 from the field for 41.4 percent, including 9-of-24 three pointers for 37.5 percent. The Bearcats sank 11-of-14 foul shots for 78.6 percent. Augusta outrebounded Lander, 37-34.

Boxscore

Lander vs. Augusta State – Quotes

Lander head coach Bruce Evans:
“My hats off to Augusta State. They have a very good ball club with so many weapons. Coach Metress, his staff and team showed why they were national runner-ups. They have so many ways that they can beat you.”

“We tried to take some things away from them early, but they had other players step up and make plays. If you want to be successful, you can’t let them shoot 60 percent for the game.”

“They were hesitant early because we were giving them those shots, and they missed their first few. But once they hit those first couple of threes, everyone regained that confidence.”

“I’m proud of the effort of our players. They fought and never gave up. What hurt us in the first half is we missed a lot of easy baskets early.”

Augusta State head coach Dip Metress:
“We are esstatic about getting a win in the Convocation Center.”

“They basically didn’t guard three of guys in the beginning. We usually don’t shoot that many, but they were just backing off of us. We won’t shoot that many tomorrow, that’s for sure.”

“We had good balance. We adjusted well and got some more firepower. We want to win this thing. None of us have won a Peach Belt Conference Tournament, and we want this bad.”

Junior guard Daniel Dixon:
“When you are feeling it, you are feeling it and everyone is feeding off each other very well. That helps when our guards are shooting that well and making plays.”

Junior guard Ben Madgen:
“We went inside early, and left the shooters open to make the plays. We didn’t want let up at all in the second half because we’ve lost some 20-point leads a few times this season.”