FULL STATISTICS
AUGUSTA, Ga. – Virginia Union shot 54.5 percent for the game and escaped Christenberry Fieldhouse with a 70-68 victory over third-ranked Augusta State Saturday in a non-conference matchup.
The Jaguars, who dropped to 3-1 on the season, got a game-high 23 points from junior guard Ben Madgen. Senior center Garret Siler had 18 points, while junior forward Fred Brathwaite added 11. Junior forward Greg Hire booked his first double-double of the season with a season-high 10 points and 11 rebounds.
With the victory, the Panthers avenged last season's last-second loss to ASU at Barco-Stevens Hall in Richmond, Va.
The loss snapped an ASU nine-game home winning streak and a 14-game non-conference home winning streak. The Jags' last non-conference home loss was on Jan. 5, 2004, to West Georgia.
Virginia Union, which shot 60.7 percent in the second half, led 66-62 before a Siler basket with 2:56 to play got the Jags within two. Brathwaite canned two free throws 30 seconds later to knot the game at 66-all before the Panthers answered with a Brandon Byerson layup on their next possession.
Hire hit a pair of free throws for a 68-all tie with 1:46 to play, only to have Union'sDevin Johnson score on a layup with 1:18 remaining for the eventual game-winner.
