Box Score
Box score
AIKEN, S.C. - GRU Augusta forward Devon Wright-Nelson's lay-in
with less than five seconds on the clock lifted fifth-seeded GRU
Augusta past fourth-seeded Anderson, 86-84, in quarterfinal action
of the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Southeast Region
Tournament, Saturday night at USC Aiken's Convocation Center.
Just 12 seconds before Wright-Nelson's game-winner, Anderson
senior Chandler Hash's fifth 3-pointer of the night capped a
furious rally that saw the Trojans erase an 11-point second-half
deficit to even the score at 84 apiece.
GRU Augusta improved to 24-7 on the season and advances to meet
fifth-ranked and top-seeded USC Aiken in Sunday night's semifinals.
With the win, the Jaguars avenged an early-season loss at the hands
of the Trojans, who finished their season with a 22-10 record.
Senior guard CJ Gleaton tallied a team-high 24 points and pulled
down five rebounds, while senior guard Chandler Hash added 21
points, including 18 in the second half. Junior guard Myson Jones
also posted 21 points and dished out a career-high 10 assists.
Senior forward Kyle Sledge pulled down a team-high seven
rebounds.
Wright-Nelson finished with a game-high 28 points, while GRU
Augusta senior Ryan Weems added 22 points. Junior Devonte Thomas
chipped in 11 points for the Jaguars and senior Harold Doby grabbed
a game-high 10 boards.
"I am extremely proud of our guys," said Anderson head coach
Jason Taylor. "You know how badly they wanted it. I agree [with
Coach Metress] that both teams played very well. Credit [GRU
Augusta] - they are really good. I have all the respect in the
world for Coach Metress and his program. Defensively, I thought our
guys did what we wanted them to. With [GRU Augusta] shooting the
way they did and for us to hang in there punch-for-punch, I could
not be more proud."
"We just wanted to win. We worked pretty hard to get where we
are," added Jones.
After Hash dropped in a 3-pointer for the game's first basket,
the Jaguars countered with seven unanswered points over the next
two minutes to claim an early 7-3 edge.
But in a preview of the contest's final hectic moments, the
Trojans battled back to take a brief 14-12 edge with 13:26 left in
the first half on Jones' trey. Later, GRU Augusta snapped a 24-24
deadlock - the fourth tie of the contest - with back-to-back
3-pointers, first from Thomas, then from Weems to take the largest
lead by either team through the opening 20 minutes.
The Jags still led, 36-30, with just more than three minutes
remaining in the opening frame, before the Trojans countered with a
9-2 outburst over the next 2:06 to take just their second lead
since the opening moments of the contest, 39-38, as Gleaton fueled
the comeback with four points. But GRU Augusta countered to close
the half with four straight points to take a 43-39 lead to
intermission.
Clinging to a one-point lead with 17:20 left in the game, the Jags
posted a 14-4 surge to claim an 11-point advantage, the largest of
the game. But AU refused to surrender and chipped away to pull
within three on two occasions inside the final seven minutes of the
contest, before Hash's third trey of the game evened the score for
the sixth time of the night at 71-71 with 3:34 on the clock.
The Trojans stayed close but were unable to wrest the lead away
from GRU Augusta, as the Jaguars rebuilt an 81-76 edge with less
than a minute remaining on a pair of free throws from
Wright-Nelson. Jones connected on a 3-pointer and following two
from the line by Weems, Gleaton drained a pair of free throws to
pull the Trojans within 83-81 with 28 seconds left.
After Jaguar junior D'Angelo Boyce hit one-of-two from the line,
Hash knocked down his fifth 3-pointer to knot the score at 84-84 at
the 17-second mark. The Jaguars hurried the ball upcourt with
Wright-Nelson dropping in the game-winner before Gleaton got one
last attempt at the buzzer that caromed off the backboard.
"We knew coming out in the second half that we had to battle,"
said Hash. "They are a great team. We knew we had to give our best
effort. We came up a little short but we battled back in the second
half."