Augusta is riding a 7 game winning streak ahead of Saturday's homecoming game, which begins a three game home stand to close the regular season

Augusta's Darren Lucas-White poses after the release.

Augusta notched its seventh consecutive victory Wednesday, propelled by a 27-4 run to open the second half that sent the Jaguars home from Dahlonega with a 92-65 win over Peach Belt Conference foe North Georgia. Rafael Monteiro (26 points and 13 rebounds), Miguel Arnold (23 points on 5-7 three point shooting) and Tyshaun Crawford (13 points and 10 rebounds) led a nearly flawless offensive performance for Augusta, which converted an eye popping 56% of its field goals and 58% of its long range attempts. The showing on the other end was equally impressive as the Jaguars held North Georgia to 36% field goal and 17% three point shooting, while outrebounding the Nighthawks 46-25.



The win came hours after the first NCAA Division II regional rankings were released. Augusta currently holds the #5 position in the Southeast Region, which consists of teams from the Peach Belt, the South Atlantic Conference and the Conference Carolinas. The Southeast Region is one of eight nationwide. The top eight teams in the final rankings will be rewarded with a trip to the NCAA tournament when the field is announced on March 8. Current Peach Belt Conference leader UNC Pembroke clocked in at #2, while PBC foe Lander occupies #6 spot, and USC Aiken stands at #8.

Augusta (18-7, 13-4) will finish the regular season with three home games in eight days, beginning with Saturday's (February 22) homecoming contest against Young Harris (7-18, 5-12), which will tip off at 3:30, immediately following the 1:30 women's game. On Wednesday (7:30 tip-off) USC Aiken (17-10, 13-4) will visit Christenberry Fieldhouse, and next Saturday (February 29) Augusta will play Georgia College (11-14, 8-9) in the regular season finale.

Augusta's recent winning streak has put into focus an impressive statistical performance this season by the team, which, alongside USC Aiken stands one game behind league leader UNC Pembroke (20-5, 14-3). The Jaguars lead the Peach Belt in offensive field goal percentage (50.6%) and three point shooting (40%). They also top the conference in both defensive field goal percentage (43.4%) and defensive three point shooting percentage (34%).