Watson-Gayle pours in the threes and Benedict tops Augusta in Columbia

Jelani Watson-Gayle scored 18 points on 7-8 shooting (4-5 from three) in Benedict"a win.

Dimitri Cook's three point play with 3 seconds remaining broke a 79 all tie and proved to be enough to finish an 83-79 home win for Benedict College over non-conference rival Augusta University.

Benedict 83, @AugustaJags 79 - Final pic.twitter.com/3EQa5VOwOV

— Chad Cook's AugBball (@AugBball) November 22, 2017

The Tigers were paced by former Georgia Bulldog Brandon Morris, who scored 23 points and grabbed 8 rebounds. Cairo Brown added 21. The Jaguars were led by senior Tamyrik Fields (23 points and 8 rebounds), Tyvez Monroe (20 points), and Mikkel Kolstad (14 points and 9 assists).

Full Game Highlights

Benedict's fantastic freshman Jelani Watson-Gayle continued a hot start to his college career by scoring 18 points and making all but 1 shot. His inside hand layup past Augusta's Monroe with 2:31 remaining gave the Tigers a "cushion" (as Jelani called it in his post game interview below) that was enough to set up Cook's dramatic finish.

Benedict topped the @AugustaJags 83-79 in Columbia, and I interviewed sharp shooting Tiger freshman Jelani Watson-Gayle (Westminster ‘17) afterwards to talk about his 18 point performance and the key bucket he made to put the Tigers ahead 79-75 with less than 3 minutes remaining. pic.twitter.com/wxCA6urKvG

— Chad Cook's AugBball (@AugBball) November 22, 2017

Augusta clawed back even after Watson-Gayle's bucket as Deane Williams (10 points) nailed a pair of free throws and put back a miss by Fields to tie the game at 79 with less than 30 seconds remaining.

Augusta's home opener is Saturday at 4:00 against Bowie State

Both teams play again Saturday. Augusta (2-2) hosts Bowie State at 4:00 in the season's first home game. The Tigers travel to SIAC opponent Lemoyne-Owen.