Augusta State Rallies in 2nd Half to Beat Christian Brothers 70-62 in Elite Eight Quarterfinals

SPRINGFIELD, MASS – Down 14 at the half, the Augusta State Jaguars staged a massive second-half comeback to defeat Christian Brothers 70-62 in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Elite Eight in Springfield, Mass. The Jaguars (30-4) were down 32-18 at the break, but outscored the Pirates (21-6) 52-30 in the second half to advance to the semifinals where they will face the Cal Poly Pomona on Thursday at 6:00 pm.

“I told the guys to just play,” said ASU head coach Dip Metress. “In the first half, they were overcoached, which is my fault, and we came out tight. In the second half I told them to just attack on offense and defense. I am fortunate to have guys who can come off the bench and play big.”

ASU started the second half attacking the basket with junior Fred Brathwaite scoring ASU’s first six points of the half as the 14-point lead was cut to 10 in less than two minutes. Brathwaite’s alley-oop dunk from Daniel Dixon capped a 6-2 opening runs, part of a larger 12-6 run that cut the lead to six with 15:29 to go.

“I just reflected on what I did in the first half and what I needed to do in the second,” said Brathwaite. “I knew once we tied the game and got that one point lead, we would run with it.”

Caleb Brown hit a layup and later a three-pointer, finishing the game with 12 points, all in the second half. Brown was one of several Jaguars to come off the bench and contribute quality minutes as Dixon added eight and Jason Killeen and Tye Beal played key defensive minutes.

The Jaguars tied the game on a Madgen free throw with 8:36 to play, then took their first lead of the second half on their next possession on a three-point play by Brathwaite, one of four three-point plays the Jaguars converted in the second half. Christian Brothers went back up on a layup from Reggie Peyton, but ASU answered with a Garret Siler layup and jumper from Steve Smith to begin a 25-16 run that lasted the rest of the game.

“I was surprised by how calm we were at halftime,” said Madgen. “We’ve been in this situation way too many times. It just wasn’t our half in the first 20, but we started to stick together in the second and that helped us.”

The first half belonged to Christian Brothers. The Pirates were down one 5-4 with 14:47 to play when they went on a 17-4 run to open up a 12-point lead. Consensus All-American Nick Kohs led the charge for CBU, scoring twice and dishing out two assists on the run.

CBU extended that lead to 14 with 3:32 to go in the first on a pair of Peyton free throws and got back-to-back layups from Zack Warner to lead by 14 at the break. The Pirates shot 45% from the field in the first and hit four three-pointers while limiting Augusta State to 1-for-7 shooting from long range and 36% shooting overall.

“The first half was textbook for us,” said Christian Brothers head coach Mike Nienaber. “It couldn’t have gone any better. We played as good as we could. But in the second we gave up a lot of rebounds. Not only did they score, they got a lot of ‘and one’ opportunities and we started breaking down defensively.”

“They shut off the baseline in the second,” said Kohs. “They made me move towards the middle but they had a lot of people in the lane. In the first half I would kick it out and we’d nail the three, but the shots just weren’t falling in the second.”

The 14-point halftime deficit overcome is the second-largest in Elite Eight history. Southern Indiana was down 18 to UC Riverside in the 1995 championship game and came back to win.

Madgen led the Jaguars with 16 points and six rebounds, eight of those points coming from the free throw line. The Jaguars as a team hit 10 of 12 free throws in the final 1:54 as Christian Brothers was forced to foul.

Brathwaite added 15, hitting all five of his free throw attempts, while Brown added 12. The ASU bench outscored Christian Brothers’ 23-11. Siler finished with nine points and five rebounds while Dixon added eight and Smith seven. ASU shot 62.5 from the field in the second half alone.

Peyton led the Pirates with 20 points while Kohs added 15. Kyle Couvion scored five points and led the team with five rebounds. ASU held a 31-17 rebounding advantage for the game.

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