HICKORY, N.C. -- Augusta State won its fourth straight game Friday night with an 88-74 victory over Lenoir-Rhyne in day one of the Lenoir-Rhyne/Moretz Classic at Shuford Gymnasium.

With the victory, ASU improved to 8-2 on the season and to 5-1 in road games.

Junior forward Tyrekus “AJ” Bowman led five Jaguars in double figures with a game-high 24 points. Freshman guard/forward Ben Madgen tallied 18 points and junior guard Demetrius Howard had 11 points and three steals off the bench. Sophomore center Garret Siler posted 10 points, eight rebounds and four blocked shots and sophomore point guard Steve Smith added 10 points. Freshman guard Daniel Dixon dished out a game-high six assists.

The Jags shot 63 percent in both halves and finished 39-of-62 from the field for the game. They connected on 8-of-13 three-point attempts and only committed 12 turnovers while forcing 20 turnovers by Lenoir-Rhyne.

ASU set a season-high for field goal percentage in the game (.629) and broke the 80-point plateau for the fourth consecutive game. Bowman has now led the Jags in scoring in seven of their 10 games.

With the contest tied at 50 with less than 16 minutes remaining, the Jags reeled off seven straight points for a 57-50 advantage and never trailed again. The Bears (5-4) cut their deficit to three on two occasions (61-58 and 64-61) but could not get any closer. ASU eventually pushed the margin to double digits late in regulation en route to the win.

Josh Kindred and Marcus Springs each scored 15 points to lead the Bears.

The Jags wrap up their non-conference schedule when they face Catawba at 2:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon in day two of the Lenoir-Rhyne/Moretz Classic.

Official Basketball Box Score
Augusta State vs Lenoir-Rhyne
12/29/06 6:00 p.m. at Hickory, N.C. (Shuford Gymnasium)
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VISITORS: Augusta State 8-2
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
00 Dixon, Daniel....... *  1-2    1-2    2-2    0  1  1   3   5  6  2  0  0  20
01 Madgen, Ben......... *  7-13   4-7    0-0    0  2  2   1  18  4  1  0  1  34
02 Smith, Steve........ *  4-7    2-2    0-0    0  2  2   2  10  3  0  0  2  31
21 Siler, Garret....... *  5-6    0-0    0-0    3  5  8   4  10  0  2  4  2  21
23 Bowman, Tyrekus..... * 12-21   0-1    0-0    4  2  6   1  24  4  2  2  2  34
03 Howard, Demetrius...    5-5    1-1    0-0    0  0  0   1  11  3  0  0  3  20
04 Quarles, Jamie......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  1  0  0   1
05 Brown, Howard.......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   1
10 Kleiva, Robertas....    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   2  0  0  0  0   1
15 Ilunga, Etsho.......    1-4    0-0    0-0    2  2  4   1   2  1  3  0  0  14
24 Thomas, Arthur......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  0  0  0  1   1
33 Tambon, Luke........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   1
44 Small, Kip..........    3-3    0-0    0-1    0  0  0   1   6  1  1  0  1  21
   TEAM................                            1  1
   Totals..............   39-62   8-13   2-3    9 16 25  16  88 22 12  6 12 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 19-30 63.3%   2nd Half: 20-32 62.5%   Game: 62.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  4-7  57.1%   2nd Half:  4-6  66.7%   Game: 61.5%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  2-2  100 %   2nd Half:  0-1   0.0%   Game: 66.7%    0

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HOME TEAM: Lenoir-Rhyne 5-4
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
10 Mauldin, Eric....... *  3-5    3-5    0-0    0  1  1   1   9  2  0  0  0  28
23 Boardman, Tyler..... *  1-1    0-0    0-0    1  1  2   3   2  5  8  0  0  31
24 Springs, Marcus..... *  5-7    3-4    2-2    2  0  2   2  15  1  3  0  0  34
30 Kindred, Josh....... *  6-13   0-0    3-3    3  5  8   0  15  0  2  3  1  30
40 Bratton, Reggie..... *  3-8    0-0    5-5    2  3  5   3  11  2  0  0  1  16
11 Crawford, Ryan......    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  1  1   0   0  1  1  0  0   2
12 Brown, A.J..........    0-0    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   0  0  0  0  0   2
21 Hinds, Stephen......    1-5    1-4    0-0    1  3  4   2   3  2  3  0  0  23
22 Rudder, Josh........    1-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   0   2  0  0  0  0   0
32 Watson, Donte.......    2-6    0-1    1-2    2  1  3   0   5  0  2  0  1  17
34 Cook, Jonathan......    3-5    3-4    3-6    0  0  0   1  12  0  1  0  1  17
   TEAM................                         1     1
   Totals..............   25-51  10-18  14-18  12 15 27  12  74 13 20  3  4 200

TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-25 48.0%   2nd Half: 13-26 50.0%   Game: 49.0%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  7-11 63.6%   2nd Half:  3-7  42.9%   Game: 55.6%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  7-8  87.5%   2nd Half:  7-10 70.0%   Game: 77.8%    2

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Officials:
Technical fouls: Augusta State-None. Lenoir-Rhyne-None.
Attendance: 295
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Augusta State.................   44   44  -   88
Lenoir-Rhyne..................   38   36  -   74
2006 L-R/Moretz Sports Men's Basketball Classic - Game Two

Points in the paint-ASU 22,LRC 22. Points off turnovers-ASU 23,LRC 19.
2nd chance points-ASU 12,LRC 17. Fast break points-ASU 0,LRC 0.
Bench points-ASU 21,LRC 22. Score tied-1 time. Lead changed-2 times.
Last FG-ASU 2nd-00:31, LRC 2nd-01:46.