Mt. Olive, N.C. – The No. 2-ranked Augusta University men's basketball team opened its season with an 81-76 win over host Mount Olive at the Pickle Classic
After scoring 24 points in AU's exhibition game last week, sophomore
Ja'Queze Kirby led all scorers with 23 points in the win over the Trojans. Kirby was 11-16 from the floor, adding three rebounds, six assists, two steals, and a block. Kirby earned the fifth 20-point game of his career.
Kirby was joined in double-digit scoring by
Tyshaun Crawford (18),
Tyree Myers (14), and
Miguel Arnold (11).
Augusta opened a 21-9 lead with 10:50 left to play in the first half. Back-to-back jumpers from Kirby around the 7:00 minute mark extended that lead to 18. A made layup by
David Viti pushed the lead even more, giving the Jaguars a 39-19 advantage. A made three-pointer by Mount Olive with five seconds on the clock sent Augusta to the locker room at halftime with a 41-27 advantage.
Augusta led by as many 13 points in the second half before Mount Olive made a late charge to pull within one with 6:39 left. A jumper by Crawford put AU up three before the Trojans answered with a layup from Michael Brown to cut the lead back to one. Augusta was able to extend a nine-point margin before two three-pointers from Mount Olive shrunk the deficit to three with 00:23 seconds left. The late offensive onslaught proved not enough, and the Jaguars captured the victory.
Augusta (1-0)
FG% 51.6
3PT% 18.2
FT% 68.4
Mount Olive (0-1)
FG% 38.6
3PT% 29.7
FT% 80.8
The Jaguars will match up against Barton on Saturday at 5 p.m. in Mount Olive. Live stats and video can be found at augustajags.com.
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