Jaguars devour Rams

Cameron Tovey played the role of freshman to perfection early in the second half.

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After a pair of mental mistakes - freshman mistakes - Tovey incurred the wrath of Augusta State coach Dip Metress.

"All I could do is respond positively," Tovey said.

He did, along with the rest of his teammates. Karim Telfer scored a career-high 27 points and Tovey added 11 boards as the Jaguars easily pasted Winston-Salem State, 70-52, at Christenberry Fieldhouse.

Augusta State, coming off two blowout losses on the road to West Georgia and Georgia Southern, expected a difficult task against a pressing, up-tempo Rams squad.

But Winston-Salem State, which entered the contest averaging 12 steals per game, couldn't put together a consistent offensive attack to jump-start its full-court press.

"We were trying to keep our composure," Telfer said, "and not get rattled with their pressure."

The Jaguars held the Rams to five first-half field goals as they built a 32-16 halftime lead. Winston-Salem State (7-3) made a quick, but furious, run early in the second half with a pair of 3-pointers and a successful press. Winston-Salem State pulled within 10 on an Audly Wehner 16-foot jumper. Soon after, Tovey found his game.

The 6-foot-7 Australian snatched a Roberto Aufiero miss off the glass and banked it in. On the ensuing possession, Tovey penetrated to the basket and dished to Aufiero for an open layup.

Tovey then stole a pass on the defensive end, drove to the basket and passed to Telfer for another easy layup. The Jaguars added five more points for an 11-0 run, giving them a 45-24 lead with 12:50 remaining.

"He made three really good plays in a row," Metress said. "I thought that was the difference."

Aufiero and Clarence Brown took advantage of the Rams inside the paint, combining for a 12-for-15 shooting performance.

Aufiero scored a season-high 20, while Brown added 10. Tovey recorded a team-high seven assists.

Augusta State (5-3) shot 50 percent from the floor and improved to 3-0 at home this season. The Jaguars, shooting 63 percent from the foul line, went 20-for-33 from the stripe.

The team is now off until Dec. 26 and will face a pair of road games against Lenoir-Rhyne and Tusculum, Dec. 29-30.

Metress wants his players to work on conditioning during the break. But he added one more thing.

"Shoot a bunch of free throws," he said.

Reach Chris Gay at (706) 823-3645 or chris.gay@augustachronicle.com.