AUGUSTA, Ga. - Two Jaguars finished with double-doubles and top-seeded Augusta State pulled away from eighth-seeded Brevard in a 91-73 victory over the Tornados in the quarterfinals of the 2010 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Regional at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

The victory by the Jaguars moves them into the semifinal round of the 2010 NCAA Division II Southeast Regional where they will play the winner of the #4 Catawba-#5 Anderson game at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 14.

Augusta State is now 27-3 on the 2009-10 season. Brevard concludes one of its best seasons in school history with a 21-10 record.

Augusta State opened the game up on all cylinders with the region top-seeded Jaguars clinging to a 16-7 lead five minutes into the contest. The Jaguars began the game shooting 66.7 percent (6-for-9) from the field in the inaugural five minutes of the contest.

Behind a 13-6 run over the next five minutes and two consecutive three-pointers from Shane Galloway the Tornados had cut the Jaguar lead to just two points at 22-20 with 9:49 left until intermission.

The Jaguars responded to Brevard's run by scoring seven straight points to push their lead back to nine points at 29-20 by the third media timeout of the first half at the 7:44 mark. A 9-5 run by Brevard over the next five minutes pulled the Tornado back to within five at 34-29 with just over two minutes remaining until the halftime break.

A jumper by Peach Belt Conference Player of the Year Ben Madgen and a three-point play by Caleb Brown garnered Augusta State a 10-point 39-29 lead to squash Brevard's short spurt. Brevard would then close the first half on a 5-0 run to sit five behind the Jaguars at 39-34 at intermission.

Augusta State concluded the first half shooting 48.4 percent (15-for-31) as a team, while the Tornados ended the first half of play shooting exactly 40 percent (12-for-30).

Madgen and Smith accounted for 24 of Augusta State's 39 points in the half, while Jonathan Whitson and Josh Roper acquired 21 of Brevard's 34 points in the first stanza.

The Jaguars commenced the second half on a 7-2 run to extend their lead back to 10 once again at 46-36 with 18:12 left in regulation.

The score would hover around the 10-point mark for the next 11 minutes before Daniel Dixon was able to secure Augusta State its largest lead of the game at the time at 13 points with a three-pointer at the 7:49 mark that set the score at 70-57 in Augusta State's favor.

The Tornados would not be able to get any closer down the stretch with the Jaguars pulling away for the 18-point 91-73 victory.

Augusta State ended their efforts on Saturday evening shooting 50 percent (32-for-64) from the floor. Brevard finished its loss shooting 44.8 percent (26-for-58) as a team.

Braithwaite was the top performer for the Jaguars in their victory, collecting 20 points and 15 rebounds. Braithwaite obtained six of his 15 boards on the offensive glass.

Smith ended the Jaguar victory with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Madgen led Augusta State in total points with 22 points, while Greg Hire was the final Jaguar in double figures with 12 points.

Roper was the star for the Tornados in their first ever tournament appearance with the guard scoring a game-high 27 points. Roper shot 50 percent from the field and he was a perfect 8-for-8 from the charity stripe.

Brevard's Whitson was the final player in double figures. He had 15 points in total.

QUOTES

Augusta State Head Coach Dip Metress
"First game is always the toughest. I give Brevard a lot of credit; they really hung in there and played very well. In the second half we just dominated the board a little bit and we were able to finish the plays around the rim, which made a huge difference."

(On defense in the second half) "Yes, it was better, Roper really got it going and we did a good job of making him make the tough shots. They are tough to guard, because they have guys that can shoot and that are pretty skilled."

(Work on tomorrow) "The good thing and bad things is that we will play a team that we have not played already in the season, so we are going to need to be ready to play tomorrow."

Augusta State's Fred Brathwaite
(On wrist): "My wrist has been sore all week and I have been playing through it. When I dunked I tweaked it a little bit, but it is nothing to worry about."

(On sitting and confidence) "When I came out and could sit there and watch what was going on with everyone sitting together, I noticed that my teammates had my back and I would do the same thing for one of the other starters if they came out."

Augusta State's Ben Madgen
(On halftime adjustments) "We changed a few things up, we switched things up with Roper and that helped us out. We kept the intensity up and just keep on doing what we are doing."

(On defense) "A lot better than against Montevallo. We worked a lot on defending the triple penetration post and giving up easy shots. I think there are a few more things that we need to work on."

Augusta State's Alex Smith
(On Peach Belt teams winning today) "I would say that the Peach Belt is a very tough conference and playing against other strong teams prepares us for the tournament."

(On Brevard's Sam Carlisle) "He is a pretty big guy. When I faced up on him he backed up off of me because he was expecting me to drive, so i figured if I hit a couple of jumpers early on then it would cause him to pull up on me and I would be able to get by him."

(On defending Carlisle) "Keep him outside the paint as much as possible and chest up because he is 6-10 and I cannot block hiss shots as much as I want to."

Brevard Head Coach Michael Jones
"I am very proud of our guys; this has been a tremendous run for us. I have a first class group of seniors that I am just so proud of. Obviously this is not how we wanted things to end, but we competed for 40 minutes. The stage that we played on tonight caught us by surprise and we missed some easy shots and we did some things that we do not usually do early on. There is no question that Augusta State is a great team and they make you pay when you make mistakes."

Brevard's Josh Roper
(On Brevard's program) "Last year our record was 3-13 in the conference and nobody really knew about the team we had except us. We did not really have many people believing in us, but we set our goals high and we have made it this far."