Tallahassee Community College wins SGTC Jets Tip-Off Classic

Americus, GA – The Tallahassee Community College Eagles flew past the South Georgia Technical College Jets to remain unbeaten and take the top honors in the SGTC Jets Tip-Off Basketball Classic held at the Hangar in Americus, GA recently.
Tallahassee defeated the Jets 74 – 60 and also overpowered the Gordon State Highlanders 94 – 65 in the Tip-Off Classic to move to 7 – 0 on the season. Gordon State did manage to post a win over USC Salkehatchie in their second game, 94 – 77 to end the tournament with a 1-1 performance and move to 4 -2 overall. USC Salkehatchie also finished the classic with a 1- 1 record after they came from behind in a strong second half effort to defeat the Jets on their home court 72 – 66.
“We still have a long way to go but I feel like we are making progress,” said South Georgia Technical College Jets head coach Travis Garrett, after his team lost both match-ups to strong competition in the Jets Tip-Off Classic. The Jets slipped to 1-5 on the season and will take a few days off for the Thanksgiving Holiday to regroup before taking to the road for a rematch against USC Salkahatchie in Walterboro, SC, on December 1st.
“We started too slow against Tallahassee and you can’t do that against good teams,” said SGTC’s Garrett. “But I was very proud of our second half effort in that game. Tallahassee only outscored us by two points in the second half. We just got too far down in the first half to make a comeback.”
The Tallahassee Eagles got that win despite being outshot from the floor. Tallahassee shot 34.4 percent compared to South Georgia Tech’s 40 percent and only out rebounded the Jets by one, 36 – 35. The difference came from behind the arc. Tallahassee was nine of 30 from the three-point line and South Georgia Tech was only three of nine.
South Georgia Tech sophomore forward Jonathan Tchuisse from Paris, France, led the Jets in scoring with 14 points. He was followed by freshman guard Nick Cummings from Eastman, Georgia, who tossed in 12 points and freshman guard DJ Fisher from McDonough, who also had 12 points to close out the double digit scoring for the Jets.
The Tallahassee Eagles were up 42 – 29 at the end of the first half and despite hanging close in the second half, the Jets fell 74 – 60 to a strong Tallahassee team. The Eagles came out to face the Jets after clinching their 600th National Junior College Athletic Association win in school history when they overpowered Gordon State College 94 – 65 in the Tip-Off Classic opener. They also remained undefeated this season at 7 – 0.
The Jets almost had the reverse situation in the second night of the Tip-Off Classic. They pulled ahead 31 – 27 at the end of the first half against the USC Salkahatchie Indians from Walterboro, SC. There were four lead changes and three ties in the first half. South Georgia Tech was up 27 -19 in that first period but the Indians rallied to pull with four at the first half buzzer.
South Georgia Tech came out strong early in the second half and widened their lead to 10 points but then the Indians pulled ahead in the final minutes to take the 72 – 66 victory.
Justin Johnson, a freshman guard from Ft. Lauderdale, FL was the top scorer for the Jets with 19 points. He was followed by freshman guard Nick Cummings from Eastman, GA, who closed out the double digit scoring from the Jets with 10 points. South Georgia Tech still struggled with getting points from behind the three-point line and was only two of 24 on the night. The Jets outrebounded the Indians 58 – 32 but only hit 35 percent of their shots as compared to the Indians 47 percent success rate. The Jets shot eight percent from the three-point line.
The Jets will return home for a December 4th match-up against Marion Military at 7 p.m. The Jets will take to the road again for five games before returning home for the Jets Holiday Classic on December 29th and 30th where they will face Shelton State Community College and Wallace State Community College. The Jets will have their first conference game on January 2nd in Macon against Central Georgia Technical College at 7:30 p.m. The Lady Jets will pay at 5:30 p.m. in that double-header.

Jonathan Tchuisse, 20, a sophomore forward from Paris, France was the top scorer for the Jets against Tallahassee Community College with 14 points.