SGTC Jets drop two losses in Southwest Florida Classic

FT. MYERS, FL – The South Georgia Technical College Jets fell prey to two tough Florida teams after an extended Christmas break in the Southwest Florida Classic in Ft. Myers, FL, recently. The Jets fell to Florida Southwestern in the opener on December 29th, 102 – 78, and then dropped a 93 – 77 decision to Daytona State College on December 30th.
The Jets are now 6 – 8 overall and are returning home to host their first Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association conference game on Saturday, January 7th at 3 p.m. against Central Georgia Technical College and former SGTC assistant men’s basketball coach Reco Dawson. The Lady Jets open up the double-header action at 1 p.m. against the Central Georgia Tech Lady Titans.
Despite losing by 24 against Florida Southwestern, which is 11 – 4 on the season, the Jets had four players in double-figures. Andre Kennedy, a sophomore forward from Albany, and Jalen Thomas, a freshman guard from Columbus, were tied for the leading scorer honors with 13 points each. Marquel Wiggins, a freshman forward from Oglethorpe, had 12 points and Ed Jones, a sophomore from Fairburn, GA closed out the double-digit scoring with 10 points.
Florida Southwestern hit 54.4% of their shots while South Georgia Tech only managed to hit 37.1% percent. Florida Southwestern also made twice as many three point shots and took 10 more two-point shots than the Jets.
South Georgia Tech was down 44 – 36 at the end of the first half but then in the second half, Florida Southwestern widened the gap by outscoring the Jets 58 – 42 to capture the 102 – 78 victory.
After that disappointing loss, the Jets came back to drop a 93 – 77 loss to Daytona State College, 13 – 4, in the next round of play. Sophomore forward Andre Kennedy led the Jets in scoring with 23 points. Jalen Thomas was the only other Jets player in double-figures with 10 points.
Davion Clark, a sophomore forward from Dacula, came off the bench to add nine points. Bobby Jackson, Ed Jones, and Kashif Davis each tossed in six points for the Jets in that game.
Daytona State set the tone early and were up 41 – 28 at the end of the first half. The Jets came back in the second half to score 49 points while holding Daytona to 52 to end up with the 93 – 77 loss. The Jets only shot 35% from the floor in that game hitting 28 – 79 attempts. They also only made four of 26 three-point attempts.
The Jets will attempt to get back on the right track this weekend as they open the GCAA conference schedule with Central Georgia Tech. The game originally scheduled for Wednesday against Chattahoochee Tech has been rescheduled until Tuesday, January 24th at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Jets will host Chattahoochee Tech on Saturday, January 21st at 1 p.m.