LOCAL BRIEFS

Flagler gets payback against Augusta in Peach Belt Conference quarterfinals

The Flagler College men’s basketball team avenged two years of getting knocked out of the Peach Belt Conference tournament by Augusta University by beating the Jaguars 81-70 on Wednesday in a quarterfinal game at the USC-Aiken Convocation Center.

The Saints (19-10) will play Georgia College in the semifinals on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

Junior guard Jax Bouknight led Flagler with 20 points, 12 in the second half, and added six rebounds. Junior guard/ forward Jalen Barr, named the Peach Belt Conference defensive player of the year earlier in the day, had 18 points and eight rebounds and junior guard Omar Figueroa and freshman guard Mason Manning had 10 points each.

Flagler trailed 56-55 with 10:25 left in the game and took the lead for good with a 10-0 run, Figueroa scored six of the points and Barr four.

Augusta got as close as 65-61 with 6:19 remaining but Bouknight scored five points to lead a 14-5 run to put the game away.

Demitri Gardner led the Jaguars with 19 points. John St. Germain III added 16 points and a game-high eight assists.

Flagler's Jalen Barr earns second Peach Belt Defensive Player of the Year

Flagler College junior guard/forward Jalen Barr missed the entire 2022-23 season because of an injury.

He picked up where he left off this year, by winning the Peach Beach Conference Defensive Player of the Year for a second time.

Barr, a native of Charlotte, N.C., was sixth in the PBC in steals per game (1.6), 11th in defensive rebounds (4.5) and 12th in blocked shots per game (0.9), and led the Saints in all three categories. Barr also averaged 8.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.

Barr was the PBC defensive player of the year in 2020-2021.

Flagler junior forward Destin Clark and senior guard Malik Bryant were named to the All-PBC second team. Clark led the Saints in scoring (16.9 points per game) and rebounding (6.9) and added 2.8 assists per game. Bryant averaged 14.2 points and 3.6 rebounds per game.

Flagler (18-10) played Augusta in the first round of the Peach Belt Conference tournament on Wednesday at the USC-Aiken Convocation Center.

Garry Smits, The Times-Union