Jaguars tip off against Paine

History will be made this season when Augusta State basketball coach Dip Metress takes his team to Paine College.

For the first time, the Jaguars will face their city rival at Carter Gym. Augusta State opens its season with the Nov. 19 meeting.

Also, Augusta State and Paine will face each other twice in a season for the first time in more than two decades.

Metress said he spoke with Paine coach Ron Spry earlier this year about adding a game to the schedule. And after taking his Belmont Abbey teams there twice, Metress was familiar with Carter Gym, which holds no more than 500 fans.

"I think it'll be a sellout," Metress said.

The Jaguars and Lions annually play each other in front of large crowds in the City Classic at Augusta State's 2,200-seat Christenberry Fieldhouse, which opened in 1991.

The contest attracted more than 1,200 fans last season and more than 1,700 two years ago.

In the late 1970s and 1980s, the schools played their games at Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center to accommodate the fans.

"Neither gym was able to hold that kind of crowd back then," said former Augusta State coach Marvin Vanover, whose teams played Paine twice a year from 1979 to 1984.

Now in his second season at Augusta State's helm, Metress said he'd like to play Paine on a home and away basis in coming years.

"As you continue to try and build a fan base, if you can play close to home, you should," he said. "It'll cause the game up here to have a bigger crowd."

The Jaguars will play host to the Lions on Dec. 17.

Augusta State begins its slate with exhibition games at Georgia Tech and George Washington, a pair of NCAA Division I tournament participants last season.

"Neither one of them is going to be easy," Metress said. "Our weaknesses will get exposed early, and that's all right."

The Jaguars open the regular season with five of their first six games on the road, including a Nov. 26 meeting at Georgia Southern.

Augusta State opens its home schedule Nov. 22 against Benedict, but the Jaguars won't return to Christenberry Fieldhouse for three weeks.

Peach Belt Conference play starts early for the Jaguars, who went 19-11 last season. They will travel to conference newcomer North Georgia, Nov. 30, before playing host to Georgia College & State on Dec. 10.

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