Saturday, January 28, 2012

MONTEVALLO, Ala. -- Montevallo rallied from a double-digit halftime deficit to hand Augusta State a 74-66 Peach Belt Conference road loss Saturday afternoon at BankTrust Arena.

The Jaguars dropped to 12-8 overall and 8-4 in the PBC, while Montevallo, the PBC West-Division leader, moved to 15-5 and 6-3, respectively. The loss was just the second for ASU in seven meetings with the Falcons and the Jags’ first in three trips to Montevallo.

ASU freshman forward Devon Wright-Nelson notched his second double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. O’Neal Armstrong and Devonte Thomas netted 10 points each off the bench and D’Angelo Boyce dished five assists.

Ryan May tossed in a game-high 18 points off the bench for the Falcons, while Antoine Davis carded 15 points and six assists and Drico Hightower booked 12 points and 10 boards.

The Jags, who entered the contest riding a four-game winning streak, shot 51.9 percent (14-of-27) in the first half, including 6-of-9 from long range. ASU raced out to an 11-2 lead in the first 3:12 of the game behind a pair of 3-pointers from Boyce and a Tye Beal trey. The Jags actually led by 17 at 21-4 after a Thomas 3-pointer with 13:25 to go in the first half.

Montevallo battled back with 10 straight points before the Jags recovered, answering with seven in a row. Wright-Nelson capped the spurt with a layup to push ASU’s advantage back up to 18 at 41-23 with 54 seconds left before the Falcons closed the half with five straight.

The Falcons scored the first six points of the second half to close within seven. With ASU still clinging to a 55-50 lead after a pair of Armstrong free throws with 7:49 left, UM rattled off nine straight points to claim its first lead of the game on consecutive treys from Travis DeShazior and May, the latter at the 5:23 mark.

UM never relinquished its lead and ended up outscoring the Jags 46-25 after the half. The Falcons owned the rebounding edge 42-33 and outscored the ASU bench 44-25.

ASU plays host to Flagler and Military Appreciation Day on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 3:30 p.m., in Christenberry Fieldhouse.

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