CHARLOTTE— It took all of one offensive play for Augusta State to set the tempo against Catawba in the first round of the Division II South Atlantic Regional men’s tournament Thursday night at Johnson C. Smith University.
Jaguar center Festus Hawkins, all 6-foot-11, 270 pounds of him, came off a screen, whirled around a defender and softly laid the ball in the basket.
“We put in a little play we got from the Lakers for Festus,” said Augusta State coach Gary Tuell.
And after that first play, the Jaguars played like the Lakers. They dominated around the boards and abruptly ended Catawba’s season, 96-84.
The Indians, seeded third, finished 25-5. Augusta State (21-9), the sixth seed from the Peach Belt Conference, advances into tonight’s second round against Winston-Salem State of the CIAA.
“I don’t want to say anything about the seedings until this is over with,” Tuell scoffed afterward. “Last year, our league was 5-6 seeds and finished 1-2. I don’t know what we’ve got to do to get any respect around here. But we’re trying to get some this weekend.”
They’ve got plenty from Catawba coach Jim Baker, who watched the humongous Jags have their way inside. They hit 13 of their first 18 shots, all but one within 10 feet of the basket. And that one was a 3-pointer — by 6-10 forward Russell Hinder.
Six minutes in, Catawba trailed 17-11. Four minutes later, Augusta State was pulling away 28-11.
“We’re a pretty good defensive team,” Baker said, “but we took a heck of a shot in the first half. They were on fire.”
When 6-9 Alex Luyk swished two straight 3-pointers, that 17-point deficit had been cut to nine.
The 46-37 halftime deficit had the Indians perplexed. Catawba outrebounded the Jags 22-18 and matched them with 33 shot attempts. But while Augusta State hit 18 of those tries, Catawba made just 11. The key was inside. Augusta State outscored the Indians in the paint, 32-10.
“Their size creates problems,” Baker said. “They throw over your head some. We were getting after them but they were skipping the ball around.”
Senior and leading scorer Gusic was left shaking his head.
“I don’t think we played as bad of a first half all year as we did tonight,” he said. “I was pleased when I saw we were only down nine.”
Catawba is a team that can throw some kind of an offensive run at you. Gusic knew it. So did Baker.
But on this night, it never happened for the young Indians, who may have had a bit of stage fright. Many were seeing their first national playoff action.
“Me personally, I came out very, very nervous,” said 6-6 sophomore jumping jack Brian Carter, who had 13 points and 8 rebounds. “Nervousness did affect my shot. We rushed things and they put us in a hole.”
The massive Hawkins, a transfer from the University of Illinois, picked up his third foul at the 16:38 mark of the second half, which helped Catawba get within 48-42 on a Gusic basket.
“I kept waiting for that one big run,” Gusic said.
But Catawba needed Gusic and Luyk on the floor for that to happen.
Gusic picked up his fourth foul at the 14:08 mark and Baker left him in. He was called for his fifth less than a minute later on an offensive foul.
Luyk picked up his fourth with 10:20 left and fouled out on a little bump inside less than a minute later.
“Somebody said, ‘Their two best players are gone,, let’s kick it into gear,” Hinder said. “It was basically over at that point.”
“It was very frustrating,” added Luyk, who finished with 14 points and 8 rebounds. “I could feel the game slipping through my fingers.”
Now, it was Baker’s turn to shake his head.
“I took a chance,” said Baker, explaining why he didn’t take the players out. “I knew Ned had four and I knew Alex had four. But as bad as we were playing, we were still in the game. All we needed was a 3 or a breakaway dunk and we’re right there.”
Catawba trailed 75-61 when it made one last-ditch attempt to rally. Super-quick guards Kevin Petty and Duke Phipps brought the Indians within 75-65 with 6:13 remaining and the Indian following stood and roared.
That’s when Catawba was floored.
Baker sent in 3-point expert Britt Jernigan into the game, hoping the run would come. Defensively, he dropped back in a zone.
Bad move. Australian Gary Boodnikoff’s eyes lit up. The 6-7 slasher bombed in a trey. The next trip down, he bombed in another from the same spot. On the next trip, T.J. Ott, an unheralded 6-4 forward, hit another. Just like that, it was a 17-point lead with five minutes left.
“I told my coaches with about two minutes left that every button I pushed, the wrong result came out of it,” Baker shrugged.
Boodnikoff finished with 25 points in 27 minutes. Ott got hot to the tune of 25 more points.
Tuell’s game plan worked to perfection, which was amazing, considering he never saw any film of Catawba.
“I don’t think it mattered much what we did or didn’t know about them,” he said. “What mattered was that we executed our stuff.”
And that was enough to leave the Indians flustered beyond belief.
“They’re looking over at me, like ‘Do something!’” Baker smiled. “I’d say, ‘Just play.’ But it’s easier said than done.”
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