Jets lose in final seconds to Central Florida in Thanksgiving Classic

November 27, 2016
South Georgia Tech’s Ed Jones (12) was the leading scorer for the Jets with 14 points.

A technical foul in the last 30 seconds put the game out of reach for the South Georgia Technical College Jets who had closed the gap to three points against the College of Central Florida in the Jets Thanksgiving Classic in Americus Saturday night.

That technical foul allowed the Central Florida Patriots to stretch the lead to four points with a successful foul shot and then regain the ball on their end of the court. They scored on a short jumper to put the game out of reach and captured the win 64 – 59. The loss to Central Florida dropped the Jets to 5 – 5 on the season.

In other action Saturday, Chipola College came up with a narrow 82 – 81 victory over East Georgia State and St. Petersburg College defeated Roane State 62 – 59. All three games were decided by five points or less. Chipola and College of Central Florida were both undefeated in the tournament. Roane State and St. Petersburg were 1-1 and South Georgia Tech and East Georgia both finished the weekend 0- 2.

In the match-up with the College of Central Florida, the Jets fell behind early by as many as nine points, however they staged a comeback and went up 29 – 27 at the end of the first half.

The Central Florida Patriots came back in the second half, which had a total of 10 lead changes and four ties in the final 20 minutes. South Georgia Tech had an opportunity to tie the game with 30 seconds left when they inbounded the ball and started up court. The technical foul returned the ball to Central Florida who took advantage of that mistake to take the 64-59 victory.

Ed Jones, a sophomore transfer from Jacksonville State, was the leading scorer for the Jets with 14 points and nine rebounds. The only other Jet in double-figures was starter Mike Boone, a freshman guard from Charlotte, NC. He had 11 points.

Davion Clark, a sophomore forward, came off the bench to add nine points, starting sophomore forward Andre Kenney added eight points and freshman guard Jalen Thomas from Columbus and Deantre Mack, a freshman guard from Atlanta, both came off the bench to add seven points each.

The Jets will host Southern Union Community College at 3 p.m. on Saturday, December 3rd and take on Tallahassee Community College at 7 p.m. on Monday, December 5th. The Lady Jets play at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 3rd.