AIKEN, S.C. – Fifth-ranked Augusta State put an end to the Lander men's basketball season three points at a time.
The Jaguars hit a Peach Belt Conference Tournament record 17 3-pointers, advancing with a 97-78 quarterfinal victory over the Bearcats Friday afternoon at USC Aiken's Convocation Center.
Top seed Augusta (24-4) advanced to Saturday's tournament semifinals while Lander saw its season end with a final record of 12-16. The Bearcats hit nine 3-pointers as the teams combined for 26 made shots from long range.
Ben Madgen hit six 3-pointers and Daniel Dixon nailed five as the Jaguars made 17-of-29 (59 percent) from behind the arc. They broke Columbus State's previous Peach Belt Tournament record of 14 3-pointers in a game.
Madgen led Augusta with 24 points and eight assists, Dixon scored 19 points, and seven-foot center Garrett Siler was his usual dominant self inside, hitting 7-of-8 shots from the floor and finishing with 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots. Madgen was 6-for-8 from long range while Dixon was 5-for-8. Fred Brathwaite added 11 points for the Jaguars while teammate Caleb Brown hit a trio of 3-pointers to finish with 10 points.
Augusta made 12-of-20 from behind the arc in the first half, including two in the final five seconds with the help of a back-court steal, and had control of the game with a 56-36 halftime lead.
The Bearcats had a strong showing from 3-point range in the first half themselves, making seven of 11 with Jacob Mochoskay coming off the bench to hit 4-of-5. But Lander missed 13 of its first 17 overall shots of the game and was already down 20 at around the seven-minute mark of the opening half.
Bearcats senior Houston Wright ended his college career with a team-high 19 points, Darius Johnson added 14 points, and Mochoskay contributed 12 points, all on first-half treys. Ford "Scooter" Lawrence, also a senior, ended his career with an 11-point effort after setting a career high with 22 points versus Columbus State in the tournament play-in game on Wednesday. Brenton Harris led Lander with 10 rebounds.
Justin Mann also saw his Bearcats career come to an end as the senior failed to score in limited action.
Lander's only leads of the game were at 2-0 and 4-2 on free throws and a basket by Johnson. Augusta took the lead for good at 9-6 on Madgen's 3-pointer at the 16-minute mark.
Wright hit a 3-pointer with 11:22 left in the first half to pull the Bearcats within 15-12. But Augusta responded with a 22-5 run to build a 37-17 lead with 6:39 to go. Madgen and Dixon hit two 3-pointers apiece while Brown had one during the run.
Lander made a modest 10-4 run to pull within 14 points, 50-36, going into the final minute of the first half with Mochoskay hitting two 3-pointers and Jacob Davis adding one.
But the back-breaker for the Bearcats came in the final few seconds when Dixon hit a 3-pointer with about five seconds left in the half, then Steve Smith stole the ball in the back-court and hit a trey to make it 56-36 at halftime. The teams made a combined 19-of-31 shots from beyond the arc in the first half.
Augusta extended its lead to 26 points early in the second half when Brathwaite's basket made it 70-44 at the 16-minute mark. That would be the biggest lead for the Jaguars as Lander outscored the top seed the rest of the way. A 3-pointer by Lawrence with 2:10 left pulled the Bearcats within 16 points, 93-77, and that was as close as it got.
For the game, Augusta made 37 of 61 from the floor (61 percent) and six of 10 from the free-throw line (60 percent) in addition to hitting nearly 60 percent of its 3-point attempts. The Jaguars out-rebounded Lander 37-34.
The Bearcats made 29 of 70 shots from the floor (41 percent), 11 of 14 free throws (79 percent), and nine of 24 from behind the arc (38 percent). Lander committed only seven turnovers in the game while Augusta turned the ball over 13 times.
