M. Basketball

2/6/2010

No. 12 Augusta State triumphs over Bearcats, 81-54

Da'Shon Barrino

GREENWOOD - Led by the Peach Belt Conference's all-time leading scorer, the No. 12-ranked Augusta State men's basketball team posted an 81-54 league victory over Lander Saturday afternoon in Horne Arena.

Ben Madgen, who has scored 2,044 career points, netted 17 to lead the Jaguars, while Fred Brathwaite and Franck Ndongo scored 11 each. Howard Brown grabbed a game-high seven rebounds, while Brathwaite had six.

Lander was led by Dane Sparrow and Da'Shon Barrino, who scored 16 and 12 points respectively. Sparrow, who only needs 21 more points to reach the 1,000-point milestone, also led the Bearcats in rebounds with six.

After a back-and-forth first six minutes which featured three ties, Augusta State went on a 17-0 run to take a 28-11 lead with 6:25 left in the half. Lander stopped the scoring drought at 6:10 on Brenton Harris' jump shot. The Jaguars stretched the margin to 25 points with 44 seconds left in the half when a pair of Madgen free throws gave ASU a 46-21 lead.

ASU outscored Lander, 35-30, in the second half and maintained at least a 23-point lead the remainder of the game.

Augusta State, which led 46-24 at halftime, connected on 28-of-54 field goals for 51.9 percent, including 9-of-19 three pointers (47.4 percent). The Jags also made 16-of-22 free throws for 72.7 percent.

Lander was 19-of-57 from the floor for 33.3 percent, including 5-of-15 from the three-point line (33.3 percent). The Bearcats also made 11-of-17 foul shots for 64.7 percent.

Augusta State out-rebounded Lander, 41-28.

Lander travels to Savannah, Ga. on Monday to face Armstrong Atlantic State University at 7:30 p.m. in a PBC contest.

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