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| Tuesday night will be AugBball's first in person look at Zep Jasper since 2016. |
Rob Drew will report live on the
@AugBball Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts Tuesday night from an exciting matchup between two NCAA tournament teams from a season ago:
The College of Charleston (2-0) and
Rhode Island (1-0). Charleston freshman
Zep Jasper (Laney '16) started and played 35 and 34 minutes in his team's first two games, and he is averaging 10.5 points and 4 rebounds per contest for the defending CAA champions.
Ahmed Hill's Hokies and Malik Dunbar's Tigers start the season in the top 20
Seniors Ahmed Hill (Aquinas '14) and Malik Dunbar (North Augusta '15) are playing on college basketball's biggest stage because Hill's Hokies are currently ranked #16 and Dunbar's Tigers have cracked the top 10 at #9 in ESPN's latest rankings. Hill, who has started for Virginia Tech for most of his college career, scored 11 points in Tech's 87-59 season opening win over Gardner Webb Friday. And after scoring 16 points in his team's opener, Dunbar contributed 8 in Auburn's impressive 88-66 win over Washington.
The Tigers host Mississippi College Wednesday at 8:00 P.M. Eastern. The Hokies host Ball State Thursday at 11:30 A.M.
Christian Keeling and Darius Williams played well but took their lumps against majors Florida and Baylor
Charleston Southern's preseason All Big South Conference first teamer Christian Keeling (Laney '16) was the only Buccaneer to reach double figures when he scored 17 points in a 76-46 loss at Florida Friday. A 30 point loss is painful no matter the opponent, but Keeling sure looked like a player in the clips showing him in this video made by the @csusports Twitter account:
Junior Darius Williams (Josey '15) is off to a hot shooting start in his first season at Prairie View A&M (1-1) after making 6 of his 7 three point attempts in the team's first two games. Williams started both games and played 27 minutes in the Panthers' impressive season opening win at Santa Clara. Then he scored 16 points on 5 for 5 three point shooting Monday night at Baylor in a loss. He only played 10 minutes in that game, and this Facebook post explains why, at least the best I can tell from watching on my monitor:
Division II Spotlight
In a pair of double digit wins for
Queens (3-1) over the weekend, junior point guard
Daniel Carr (Midland Valley '16) continued his strong start to the season, both in scoring and distributing the basketball. In an 85-68 win over
Emmanuel College Friday, Carr scored 15 points, making all 3 of his three point attempts, and dished 8 assists. And in Saturday's 85-69 win over
Young Harris, Carr scored a season high 19 points and handed out 6 assists.
For the season, Carr is averaging 17 points and 7 assists, and he is shooting 47% from the field, 48% from the three point line, and 93% from the free throw line for the Royals, who entered the season ranked #7 in the Division II poll.
Queens will host
West Georgia Wednesday at 8:00. Here is the link to watch: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/queensathletics/
Augusta's Williams and Clayton State's McRae posted big numbers in weekend splits
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| Deane Williams and Aubrey McRae notched double doubles in each of their first 2 games. |
Deane Williams posted a pair of double-doubles in Augusta's games at Barton College's 45 Second Classic in Wilson, North Carolina, last weekend. Williams scored 15 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in Friday's 77-73 win over Mount Olive Friday. And his third block of the game was the most important one because it preserved Augusta's 3 point lead with less than a minute remaining:
The senior Williams then recorded another 22 points, 16 rebounds, and 4 blocks in Saturday's 89-76 loss to
Barton College.
Clayton State, which received more top 25 votes than any team not officially listed in the preseason Division II rankings, also split a pair season opening games this weekend. Senior
Aubrey McRae (Glenn Hills '14) scored 13 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Friday's 82-61 loss to
#3 Lincoln Memorial. And he tallied 23 points and 11 rebounds Saturday in a 77-73 win over
Tusculum.
The Lakers will travel to Mount Olive this Friday for the first of two games there with the second being against Barton. Because Augusta and Clayton State are
Peach Belt Conference rivals, it will be interesting to compare this weekend's results for Clayton State to last week's for Augusta against the same two opponents.
The Jaguars will play at
Paine College Saturday at 7:30 before returning to
Christenberry Fieldhouse next Wednesday to play
Benedict in their home opener
Limestone's TJ Sheppard and Mars Hill's Jashawn Brooks scorched the nets in North Carolina
Playing in the same four team event at Wingate University, local products TJ Sheppard (North Augusta '13) and Jashawn Brooks (Laney '15) posted high scoring figures for Limestone and Mars Hill, respectively, last weekend.
Sheppard's Limestone squad had success in the win column, notching a pair of overtime wins, with the first being a 92-88 win over Brooks and Mars Hill Friday, and the second a 95-93 victory over Wingate Saturday. It was in that second game when Sheppard exploded for 34 points, making an astonishing 8 three pointers in only 9 attempts.
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| Jashawn Brooks started the season fast for Mars Hill. |
Brooks turned in a strong scoring effort in his first game since transferring from Augusta University after the end of the 2016-17 season. In Friday's loss to Limestone the junior scored 28 points, making 5 of his 9 three point attempts. He also scored 15 points Saturday in a 70-53 loss to Belmont Abbey.
Mars Hill will host North Greenville Tuesday at 7:00, and Limestone will host Anderson Wednesday at 7:30.
Reggie Reid led Texas A&M Commerce to a pair of wins to open the season
Reggie Reid (Harlem '15) scored 16 points and dished out 4 assists in each of Texas A&M Commerce's first two wins last weekend. Commerce is the preseason pick to win the Lone Star Conference and Reid was picked to be the player of the year in the conference. Having notched an 89-82 win over Oklahoma Christian and a 76-56 victory against Newman, Reid's Lions start a four-game-in-five-days stretch Tuesday evening.
