Augusta State's Larry Diamond (right) drives past Lenoir-Rhyne's Tony Connelly during the second half of the Jaguars' home opener at Christenberry Fieldhouse in Augusta. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff

Jaguars win in front of big crowd

Augusta State 62, Lenoir-Rhyne 54

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Lenoir-Rhyne's David Lawson (left) reaches around the arm of Cameron Tovey as they fight for a rebound. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff Augusta State coach Dip Metress reacts to a call during the second half of the Jaguars' Monday night victory. Andrew Davis Tucker/Staff

Dip Metress proved to be as successful on the court as he was bringing fans to it.

The first-year Augusta State head coach drew almost 2,000 fans to Christenberry Fieldhouse with a used car promotion. Then Metress watched his team play smothering defense in the Jaguars' home opener Monday night.

Jason Mills came off the bench for a career-high 23 points as the Jaguars held off Lenoir-Rhyne, 62-54, in front of 1,898 fans at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

"Someone said this was the largest crowd they've seen in 11 years," Metress said. "I don't know if that's true. But hopefully we got a few fans out of it."

The near-sellout crowd saw Augusta State force 19 turnovers and hold Lenoir-Rhyne to 42 percent shooting. Clarence Brown also held Bears' leading scorer, Roman Davis, to 14 points - seven below his season average.

Lenoir-Rhyne (2-3), a Division II Tournament participant the past two seasons, failed to capitalize on favorable situations. The Bears missed a pair of dunk attempts and blew 2-on-1 and 3-on-1 advantages in transition.

"We won it because we played well on defense," Metress said. "Our effort was pretty good. I think we played with a lot of enthusiasm."

Mills entered the game as the Peach Belt Conference's top 3-point shooter. He said a newfound commitment to the perimeter game during the summer has paid off.

The junior guard drained three 3-pointers in the first half and scored 14 points. The Jaguars led 32-26 at halftime.

Augusta State, which won its home opener for the first time in three seasons, built its lead to 14 as Larry Diamond, Karim Telfer and Mills all made 3-pointers.

Telfer, who scored 16 points, canned another 3-pointer with six minutes remaining. The Jaguars made four buckets the first 14 minutes after halftime - all perimeter shots - and still led 50-38.

"We try to get it inside," Mills said. "But if we get an open look, we take it. Hopefully, it'll go in for us."

The Jaguars blew a 10-point lead with four minutes remaining in their 59-56 loss at Benedict last Tuesday. This time, Augusta State wasn't threatened down the stretch.

Mills capped the victory with a two-handed, breakaway slam dunk with 25.3 seconds left in the game.

"I think we learned how to win tonight," Metress said. "This time of year, we'll take any win we can get."

Longtime Augusta State basketball fan Ed Holmes of Augusta won the team's giveaway, a 1999 Dodge Intrepid, from Tom Hendrix Used Cars of Monetta, S.C.

--From the Tuesday, November 30, 2004 printed edition of the Augusta Chronicle