Jaguar men start hoops season with pair of losses in Florida
By Nolan Turner | Sports writer
The Augusta University men’s basketball team kicked off the 2025-26 season in Lakeland, Fla., over the weekend, losing both games in the Small College Hall of Fame Classic.
Both No. 2 Washburn University, an NCAA Division II semifinalist last season, and No. 25 Lubbock Christian were formidable first-weekend opponents, especially with AU forward Evan Joyner out of action with a broken wrist and guard TJ Baker still out with a kidney laceration.
Jack Bachelor led the Ichabods with 25 points, while Dillon Claussen added 22 in Washburn’s 101-53 victory over Augusta on Saturday, Nov. 1. The Jags trailed 46-25 at half and couldn’t catch up.
“Washburn is a very solid team, and their three returning players outscored our entire team,” said Jaguar coach Dip Metress.
Although the Jaguars lost, some players stood out. Freshman forward Charlie McBeath had 19 points in 22 minutes. He made 7 of 15 from the field. Junior post player Oliver Lucas totaled eight points in 12 minutes, and freshman center Matias Zanotto scored eight points in 22 minutes. Freshman Camryn Pacheco had five rebounds.
In Sunday’s 96-69 loss to Lubbock Christian, McBeath had 19 points again, this time on 8-of-14 shooting, and the Australian added four rebounds. Tobias Prall chipped in 10 points for the Jaguars. Pacheco tossed in eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field. Luis Nonfon, playing a sore knee, contributed seven points and eight rebounds.
The Jags, who shot 9 of 33 from 3-point land on Sunday, have a very young team. Many players got the opportunity to play against both opponents, but nothing was working in the Jags’ favor to slow down the highly ranked Washburn team or Lubbock Christian, which went 25-9 last season. The Jaguars shot 6 of 30 from behind the arc in the opener.
“We are done jacking up threes,” Metress said after Sunday’s game. “We have to work the ball inside the paint more.”
The difference in Sunday’s game was that Lubbock Christian shot 65 percent on 3-pointers (11 of 17), good for 33 points.
Metress’s Jaguars slowly started to figure out some of their mistakes and tried to make corrections accordingly in the second game. However, it was still not enough.
“Those were two very well coached and composed teams,” Oliver said. “I think our relative inexperience really showed, but we competed nonetheless.”
AU shot 41 percent against Lubbock Christian after shooting only 31 percent against Washburn.
Metress said he plans to highlight the key mistakes and change the style of basketball his players have been playing to help improve on the errors.
“The phrase going around the locker room has been,’This was our wake-up call,’” said McBeath.
Metress will take his team to Atlanta on Nov. 5 for a scrimmage against Emory University, a perennial Division III power.
The Jaguars will play their next regular-season game against Mount Olive University on Friday, Nov. 14, at 5 p.m. in Wilson, N.C. They will play Barton College the next day, also in Wilson.
Charlie McBeath (5) goes up for two of his 19 points against Lubbock Christian. He shot 8 of 14 from the floor in the 96-69 loss to the Chaparrals. At the top of the page, AU point guard Rodney Scott (3) drives to the basket. (photos by Paula Toole/AU Athletics)
Jaguar guard Tobias Prall (2) goes up for a 3-pointer against Lubbock Christian. Prall had 10 points in the 96-69 loss to the Chaps. (photo by Paula Toole/AU Athletics)
