A long layoff and a looming opponent sandwiching a rivalry game didn't faze No. 14 Augusta State on Thursday night.

Tyrekus "A.J." Bowman scored a season-high 27 and the Jaguars pulled away from Paine, 83-47, at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

In its first game since Dec. 3 when it almost upset Georgia on the road, Augusta State (5-2) shot 52 percent from the field and never trailed.

"It was a good thing we didn't play right after Georgia," Jaguars coach Dip Metress said. "We were kind of biting the past couple of days to play somebody. It was nice to play Paine, because we knew we would have a good crowd and our guys were excited."

Bowman shot 9-for-13 from the field with five boards and three steals.

Afterward, he lamented the fact three missed free throws prevented him from his second career 30-point game.

After leading the Peach Belt Conference with a 20.5 scoring average last season, Bowman, who sat out the first of the season because of a heart condition, now leads Augusta State with an 18.0 average.

"I feel like I'm getting closer to where I was last year," Bowman said. "I'm definitely taking steps in the right direction."

Ben Madgen chipped in with 12 points, while Tom Wright came off the bench for a career-high 10.

Center Garret Siler posted 10 points, eight boards and six blocks.

The most important stat for the Jaguars was minutes. No starter played more than 23 minutes.

Metress said that should benefit his team for its upcoming foe.

Augusta State leaves at 6 a.m. today for Richmond, Va..

The Jaguars face No. 22 Virginia Union on Saturday night.

"On Saturday, these guys aren't playing 10 or 15 minutes," Metress said. "We're going into a tough situation Saturday so it's good to get some rest."

Five Jaguars hail from Virginia, including senior guard Demetrius Howard. He said he originally tried to play for Virginia Union but things didn't work out.

"I'm very excited to go up there," Howard said. "It's going to be a big game for me."

Paine was a big game for Augusta State.

The Jaguars opened with a 12-0 run and didn't look back.On a play designed earlier in the day, point guard Daniel Dixon tossed a pass over Siler's head to Bowman cutting from the baseline for an alley-oop dunk less than two minutes in.

"Coach wanted to get us off to a good start," Bowman said.

"Once we get that crowd behind us we're a pretty tough team to beat."

Paine (2-4) suffered its worst defeat of the season, scoring 33 points below its season average.

"I knew it would be extremely tough becuase they have a veteran ballclub and they're nationally ranked," said Paine coach Ron Spry.

"Tyrekus and Garret are great ballplayers."

The Lions shot 29 percent from the field and were out-rebounded, 44-36.

Paine guards Julian English and Joshua Adams entered averaging a combined 41 points a game.

They combined to shoot 7-for-24 from the field with Adams scoring 11 and English 9.

Donald Harris came off the bench to lead the Lions with 12 points and 10 boards.

Paine is off until Jan. 1, when it will play host to LeMoyne-Owen in the first of 21 consecutive Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contests.