South Georgia Tech Jets fall to South Georgia State College

It was not the outcome that South Georgia Technical College Jets head basketball coach Travis Garrett and his players had hoped and planned for Wednesday night when they dropped a 73 – 57 decision to the South Georgia State College Hawks as the Jets were making a play to move up in the end of the season Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) conference standings and earn the opportunity to host an NJCAA Region XVII quarterfinal playoff game.
“We did not do what we needed to do,” said South Georgia Technical College Jets head basketball coach Travis Garrett. “This probably ended our hopes of hosting the NJCAA Region XVII playoff tournament. But we still have three more conference games that we need to win and hopefully secure the opportunity to host a playoff game and gain momentum going into the end of the season tournament.”
The Jets went into the GCAA conference game in third place trailing top-ranked Central Georgia Tech and second place Georgia Highlands by only one game. The loss Wednesday night dropped South Georgia Tech into a tie for fourth place with Andrew College. Both teams are currently 8 – 5 in the GCAA. Central Georgia Tech and Georgia Highlands won Wednesday night to remain in first and second place. Gordon College lost to Georgia Highlands but moved into 3rd place with a 9 – 5 conference performance. Andrew College defeated East Georgia 87 – 77 Wednesday to secure a tie for fourth place. Andrew College still has to play Central Georgia Tech and Georgia Highlands in addition to Southern Crescent.
“We need to put this game behind us and concentrate on our three conference games left,” said Coach Garrett. “We play Albany Tech on Saturday, and then Gordon State College and East Georgia State College at home. We need those wins to be able to go into the NJCAA Region XVII tournament with some momentum. We are very capable of winning the last three games and the tournament, but we have got to play. No one is going to give it to us.”
The Jets had an off night against South Georgia State offensively. The Jets only hit 32 percent of their shots and even less of their three point attempts with a 23 percent success rate. South Georgia State shot 50 percent from the floor and the three-point line. The two teams shot 47 and 50 percent from the foul line.
Freshman forward Justin Johnson led the team in scoring with 14 points. Freshman Toriano Lewis was the only other Jet in double digits with 10 points. Adonis Green and Jeremy Johnson both came away with seven points, Jaylan McKinney and DJ Fisher added five points each. Nick Cummings and Sam Matice both netted four points and Brice Paster hit a foul shot to close out the scoring for the Jets.
Sam Matice was the leading rebounder for the Jets with nine. Nick Cummings had seven total rebounds and Adonis Green, and Justin Johnson pulled down six rebounds each.
The Jets enjoyed a short lived lead in the first five minutes of the game but then the South Georgia State Hawks roared back and scored 14 unanswered points and go ahead 27 – 17. The Jets trailed 40 – 31 at the end of the first half. South Georgia State continued to outscore the Jets in the second half and finished with the 73 – 57 victory. South Georgia State is currently 7th with a 5 – 6 – 1 record.
The Jets and Lady Jets will face Albany Technical College on Saturday, February 23rd at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. in a double-header for the SGTC Alumni/Sophomore Day celebration. The Jet’s next two conference games are also at home. They host Gordon State College on February 27th and East Georgia State College on March 2nd at 6 p.m. The game Saturday closes out the regular season for the Lady Jets and they will be the host site for the NJCAA Regional XVII semi-final and final games on March 1st and March 2nd. The Lady Jets will play the fourth seeded team at 5:30 p.m. on Friday, March 1st and then the two winners will face off at 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 2nd.