NCAA Men's Regional - Augusta State Survives Scare From Tusculum 62-60

AUGUSTA, Ga. - Top-seeded and No. 4-ranked Augusta State survived a furious late-game charge by No. 8-seed Tusculum, winning 62-60, in the first round of the 2009 NCAA DII Southeast Regional on Saturday evening in Augusta.

The host Jaguars (27-4) advance to their third straight region semifinal, which will take place on 7:30 p.m. on Sunday evening. Augusta State will face the winner of No. 4 seed GCSU and No. 5 seed Barton. Tusculum finishes its season at 20-11 in just its second NCAA Regionals berth in school history.

Trailing 62-60 with 13 seconds left, Tusculum guard Jimmy Boone came up with a steal of a Fred Braithwaite pass, but his off-balance three-pointer was short with two seconds left. Augusta State guard Steve Smith missed the front end of his one-and-one, but Tusculum was unable to get a quality shot off in the final 1.1 seconds after securing the rebound.

It was the stellar play of SAC Player of the Year Kyle Moore that willed the Pioneers back into the game late in the second half. Augusta State led by as many as 17 points after halftime, but a Moore layup cut the lead to single digits, 54-45, with 4:38 left, then Moore hit two three-pointers to make it 55-51 with 1:34 remaining. A 32' three-pointer by Moore from in front of the Tusculum bench made it a one-possession game, 60-57, with 22.9 seconds left, and another three-pointer by Ryan Troutman with 16.7 seconds left brought the score to two, 62-60, setting up the late-game drama.

Tusculum weathered an early Ben Madgen storm in the first half. Madgen scored 10 of the Jaguars' first 12 points as Augusta State opened up with a 12-7 lead. Tusculum got back-to-back three-pointers from Moore and a basket by Taylor Hobbs to take a 23-15 lead with 5:46 left in the first half.

Augusta State responded with a 13-2 run at the end of the half, sparked by a Fred Brathwaite three-pointer and a dunk on consecutive possessions, to take a 30-27 lead into halftime. Madgen's 10 points led the host Jaguars at halftime, while Moore had 12 at intermission to lead Tusculum.

The blistering play by Augusta State at the end of the half continued after halftime as the Jaguars scored the first six points of the second half on a Madgen steal and layup, a Garrett Siler dunk and a Greg Hire driving layup. The 25-4 run covering the final five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half was capped by back-to-back Madgen three-pointers, giving ASU a seemingly insurmountable 42-29 lead with 14:38 remaining.

Madgen led a trio of Jaguar players in double figures with 18 points. Garrett Siler recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds, his 19th straight game with double digit scoring. Fred Brathwaite added 16 points for the Jaguars.

Moore led the Pioneers on the night with his game-high 23 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the floor, which included 7-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc. Rob Troutman notched 14 points, while Ryan Troutman added 13 points on a perfect 3-of-3 night from three-point range.

Tusculum hit 11-of-20 shots from three-point range on the night (55 percent), but hit just 46.9 percent from the floor (23-of-49 shots). Augusta State hit 46.8 percent from the floor (22-of-47 shots), including 7-of-17 from three-point range (41.2 percent).

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