AUGUSTA, Ga.
– Augusta State senior guard Ben Madgen broke the
school's career scoring record and the No. 3 Jaguars extended
their winning streak to 13 in a row with an 89-62 Peach Belt
Conference victory over Francis Marion Saturday night in
Christenberry Fieldhouse.
With the first of two free throws at the 13:50 mark of the first
half, Madgen overtook former Jaguar standout Derek Stewart as
ASU's all-time leading scorer and received the game ball from
head coach Dip Metress in a brief ceremony at mid-court.
The senior guard and Williamstown, Australia native scored a
game-high 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Fellow backcourt mate
Daniel Dixon posted his second double-double of the season,
registering 20 points and a career-high 11 assists and six
steals.
Alex Smith netted 16 points and Fred Brathwaite had 15 points and
six rebounds. Greg Hire snagged a game-high 11 rebounds and added
three steals.
Kendrick Robinson paced Francis Marion with 14 points and Kaylan
Anderson added 11 off the bench. The Patriots, who entered the
contest with just one loss, fell to 11-2 overall and 3-1 in the
PBC.
With the victory, the Jags extended the best start in school
history, improving to 13-0 overall and 5-0 in the PBC. ASU
stretched its regular-season winning streak to 22 games and its
conference streak to 14 straight. The victory was also the 22nd
straight home win for the Jags and the 19th straight home
conference win.
ASU never trailed, jumping out to a 7-0 lead in the first 1:10 of
the game behind five quick points from Madgen. After a three-point
play from FMU's Robinson, Madgen nailed a 3-pointer from the
right corner off a feed from Hire to tie the school record of 1,895
points.
The Patriots answered with a trey before ASU responded with 9-0
run. Madgen capped the spurt by canning a pair of free throws, the
first of which gave him the all-time scoring mark and put the Jags
ahead 21-6 just 6:10 into the game.
After FMU cut its deficit to seven, ASU ran off nine straight
points to open up its biggest lead of the half on a Dixon trey with
2:41 left. The Patriots scored the last six points of the half to
pull within 45-33 at the break.
A 7-2 run to start the second half got FMU within 47-40, only to
have the Jags counter with an 18-1 run to open up a 24-point lead
with 12:20 remaining. ASU led by as many as 34 with 2:45 left.
The Jags hit the road for two straight games, traveling to
Savannah, Ga., to take on Armstrong Atlantic State on Wednesday,
Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m.
