AUGUSTA, Ga. – Franck Ndongo racked up game highs of 25 points and 13 rebounds and George Johnson added 22 points to lead top-seeded Augusta State to an 80-66 victory over eighth-seeded UNC Pembroke in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament Southeast Regional at Christenberry Fieldhouse.
O'Neal Armstrong chipped in 14 points and six assists for Augusta State (29-3), which advances to Sunday's 7:30 p.m. semifinal against the winner of the Queens-Limestone quarterfinal. Shahmel Brackett scored 14 points for UNC Pembroke (18-12), which lost to Augusta State for the fourth time this season.
UNCP pulled within three points on a pair of free throws by Chris Hargrove with 13:52 to play, but Johnson answered with consecutive steals and fastbreak layups to stretch Augusta State's lead to 47-40. The teams traded baskets for the next several minutes before a three-pointer by Brackett closed the gap to four, 58-54, at the 6:24 mark.
But the Braves would get no closer against the Jaguars, who committed only seven turnovers all night and managed the clock effectively in the final minutes. ASU's Tye Beal drained a jump shot just before the shot clock expired to give Augusta State a 65-56 lead with 2:26 remaining, and the Jaguars milked the shot clock again before Ndongo's jumper in the lane made it 67-59 with 1:33 to play.
Armstrong stole the ball, was fouled and hit two free throws to push Augusta State's lead to double digits, 71-61. The Jaguars shot only 63 percent from the free throw line (17-27), but converted nine of 11 from the charity stripe in the final 1:13 to seal the win. Ndongo hit four free throws in the closing seconds to set a new career high with 25 points.
Ndongo scored the game's first six points as Augusta State raced to a 10-0 lead in the opening four minutes. UNC Pembroke needed nearly six minutes to score its first points, but rallied to pull within 19-17 before Johnson hit a three-pointer to stretch the gap to five. Moments later Johnson added another trey, his school-record 91st of the season, on his way to 13 first-half points.
Ndongo already had his eighth double-double of the season at halftime, with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Back-to-back baskets by Ndongo and a three-pointer by Caleb Brown gave Augusta State its biggest lead of the first half, 38-26, before a three-pointer by UNC Pembroke's Marcus Heath closed the gap back to single digits at halftime.
Augusta State shot 49.1 percent (28-57) from the field and out-rebounded UNC Pembroke 40-29 in winning its 47th straight home game, the fourth-longest active streak in the nation. The Jaguars are now 11-1 in NCAA Tournament games in Augusta over the last four seasons.
Quotes
Augusta State Head Coach Dip Metress
"This team all year has been the team without -- the team without this guy, the team without that guy, and we are playing this Sunday. We'll take being 'the team without' and keep rolling with it."
"UNC Pembroke has a good team. A lot of credit goes to Pembroke. They hung in there and even battled back."
Augusta State Senior Guard George Johnson
"We started out 10-0 (in the lead). We played hungry even though we had a few mental lapses. I'm just happy to advance."
"We had to stay focused for the full 40 minutes in order to win the game. We were just hungry for it, and as a group we worked hard to win."
Augusta State Senior Forward Franck Ndongo
"I was in class until 4:30 p.m. today, and I came in ready and prepared to play."
UNC Pembroke Head Coach Ben Miller
"We are disappointed, and we became more frustrated because we felt as if ASU was out-working us. ASU has a great team and great program. We have a lot of respect for them."
"Chris (Hargrove) raised the bar for us this year. We have accomplished things this year that have never been done. We are going to celebrate this season because we made it this far."
UNC Pembroke Senior Guard Chris Hargrove
"We played hard and should have come out on top."
