Augusta University basketball punches ticket to National Championship game
Will Cheney
Augusta University men's basketball is playing for a national championship.
The No. 5 Jaguars defeated No. 2 Indiana University of Pennsylvania 76-61 in the NCAA Division-II Final Four Thursday. They'll face No. 5 Northwest Missouri State in the national title game Saturday at 3 p.m.
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"It's great to play the last game of the year," Augusta coach Dip Metress said after the win. "We're obviously playing a great team that won the national championship the last two years, so we've got our hands full. They've got the player of the year in the country in Trevor Hudgins and we're excited about the challenge."
This is Augusta's first trip to the national championship game since 2008, which the Jags lost to Winona State 87-76. That was the first of a three-year stretch where Metress led Augusta to Elite Eight appearances.
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Augusta went to the locker room at the half tied at 32, but scored 44 second-half points to secure the victory. Junior center Tyshaun Crawford led the team with 25 points and 14 rebounds, making all 12 shot attempts from the field. Freshman Ja'Queze Kirby scored 16 points.
"We did a bad job in the first half of just getting open and simple, fundamental basketball. In the second half, we were able to feed Tyshaun the ball deep in the paint. Our spacing was really bad in the first half. Our game plan isn't real complicated; we're going to feed Tyshaun the ball."
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Crawford's performance comes on the heels of Miguel Arnold's 33-point performance in the Elite Eight. This team has shown in just the past two games it can win in many different ways, if it needs to. Otherwise, leaning on the Peach Belt Conference Co-Player of the Year seems to be working.
"Obviously Miguel was huge in the first-round games," Metress said. "It always starts with getting the ball to Tyshaun, which we didn't do a good job of in the first half. We're pretty balanced and look for equal distribution, unless we can get it to Tyshaun."
Looking ahead, Augusta will need that balance to show itself one more time. Every game since the end of the regular season has been tough, but facing a defending champion brings on a new set of challenges. Hudgins has been a handful for opposing defenses all year, averaging 22 points per game during the season.