Jaguars win conference title, will host Southeast Regional for NCAA Division II Tournament

When Augusta University senior center Tyshaun Crawford joined the men’s basketball program almost four years ago, he said the established players welcomed him to the family with open arms.

They grew as a family, utilizing the team chemistry they worked so hard to create and turned it into three Peach Belt Conference Tournament championships in five years. On March 5, the team secured that third crown with an 86-72 victory over fourth-seeded Lander to earn the conference’s automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Later in the night, the team found out they would be the No. 1 seed in the Southeast Regional for the second consecutive year during the NCAA Selection Show. The Jaguars, who lost in the national title game in 2022 to Northwest Missouri State, will play Emmanuel (Georgia) at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 11 in the opening round at Christenberry Fieldhouse, where the Jaguars are 35-2 over the past two seasons.

Crawford, who was named to the Top 50 Watch List for the 2023 Bevo Francis Award earlier this season, was named PBC Tournament MVP after averaging 22 points, 7.7 rebounds and 1.7 block per game. After the game he received some special love from his mom, who was in attendance for the title game.

“My mom is my everything. She keeps me level-headed,” Crawford said. “My mom is there for everything and she tells me, ‘You’re going to have a bad game every now and then. You just have stick with it.’ She believed when nobody else believed, and now we’re here as back-to-back champions.”

The Jaguars (26-5), ranked No. 18 in the nation according to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC), had a total team effort in the PBC Tournament.

Four players scored in double figures in Thursday’s quarterfinal game against Flagler, with Tyree Myers leading the way with 20 points. In Friday’s semifinal game against Columbus State, Crawford led three players in double figures with a double-double effort of 23 points and 13 rebounds. Crawford capped the tournament off in Sunday’s championship game by dominating the second half. He finished with 31 points after only scoring nine in the first half.

“It was a pretty full house today and that energy, that excitement — we need that atmosphere if we’re going to win this regional. We want everyone to come out and support our team because they just feed off that energy that’s in there. We saw that today. I think the success we have is going to mirror the excitement and the energy that’s in the building. Hopefully, everyone will come out and support our team.”

Ryan Erlacher, Augusta University Director of Athletics

Now AU will get at least one more game in front of the home crowd.

“It’s always good when you can play at home,” Crawford said. “We worked hard for it and all of that hard work is showing up. We’re just going to keep working and keep trying to grind out those wins at home in front of the good people and we just hope they come out.”

Head coach Dip Metress is proud of his seniors, as well as the team as a whole, knowing how important it is to be playing in front of the home crowd.

“We have three conference tournament wins, regular-season titles, and they’re the reason we’re good,” Metress said of Crawford, Myers, Miguel Arnold and Darren Lucas-White. “They stuck around and I’m really happy for them. We get a chance to host the regional and that’s huge because 48 hours ago, nobody was talking about that.”

AU won its tournament games by an average of 15 points while shooting 52% from the field and 56% from 3-point range. One key player Metress noted was junior guard David Viti, a vital player coming off the bench who helped changed the dynamics of the games he entered. He averaged 11.3 points in the tournament and his stellar defense disrupted the opposing teams’ schemes.

“Without him coming in and making those shots, we’re not cutting down those nets,” Metress said. “He’s had an unbelievable past five games where he’s been really good, and we have a lot of confidence in him.”

Director of Athletics Ryan Erlacher said he’s been “beyond impressed” over the past four months with the men’s team and noted that even when the Jags were down big early, they showed off their resiliency by coming back and dominating the second half.

“I think if you asked anyone in the arena if they were nervous, I think all of us would have probably said no because there’s just so much confidence on that team. Obviously, the run they made last year and the success they’ve had, I think we all expected them to come back,” he said. “I’m just so proud of them and the coaches and everyone surrounding the program. They’ve just done a fantastic job this year, and we’re not done.”

Erlacher said Sunday’s game was another example of why everyone needs to be out at Christenberry Fieldhouse supporting the Jaguars at the end of the week.

“It was a pretty full house today and that energy, that excitement — we need that atmosphere if we’re going to win this regional,” Erlacher said. “We want everyone to come out and support our team because they just feed off that energy that’s in there. We saw that today. I think the success we have is going to mirror the excitement and the energy that’s in the building. Hopefully, everyone will come out and support our team.”