Jets fall to Gordon College in GCAA match-up
The Gordon State College Highlanders scored with three seconds remaining to take an 80 – 79 victory over the South Georgia Technical College Jets in a Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) match-up in the James S. Peters gymnasium Wednesday.
The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Jets and left them with a 4 – 3 conference record and 8 – 13 on the season. They are still in third place in the conference behind Central Georgia Tech (7 – 0) and South Georgia State College (5 – 1). Gordon moved into the fourth place with the win and are 4 – 4 in the conference and 10 – 11 overall.
Gordon scored first and last in the 40-minute contest that saw 14 lead changes and nine ties. The Jets had several opportunities to clinch the win but a couple of missed dunks and free throws in the final minutes left them down 80 – 79 at the buzzer.
The Jets were up 39 – 31 at the end of the first half and then stretched that lead to 14 points (49 – 35) with 15:50 remaining in the game. Gordan made a comeback and cut that deficit and tied the game at 57 – 57 with 10:05 left on the clock after getting a hot hand and hitting several three-pointers.
South Georgia Tech got behind by as many as six points with 6:23 on the clock but then battled back to tie the game at 75 – 75 with 1:35 remaining. Marc Ferdy, Jalexs Ewing, and Matt Mbole all went to the free throw line in that final minute and a half and hit four of six free throw attempts to fall behind 79 – 80 with three seconds remaining. The Jets were not able to get a shot off before the final buzzer.
Three Jets were in double-digits with sophomore Jalexs Ewing leading the way. He had a total of 23 points on the night. He was five of nine from the field and 13 of 18 from the foul line. He also had eight rebounds and two assists.
Sophomore Center Matt Mbole came away with 17 points and five rebounds. He was eight of 12 from the field and one of two from the foul line. He also had an assist and two blocked shots. Freshman guard Clark Mastin was the only other Jet in double digits and he walked away with 15 points, two rebounds and five assists.
Marcellus Myles contributed eight points and Guillaume Schoentgen had seven points but alo pulled down 18 rebounds to lead the team. Jarius Davis added three points and then Marc Ferdy and Ilich Yacaman closed out the scoring with two points each.
Four of Gordon State College’s players were in double-digits. Christian Burnett led the way with 18, Chauncey Williams had 17, and Jeremiah Shealey and Donovan Hand followed with 12 and 10 points respectively.
The Lady Jets travel to Macon to face Central Georgia Tech at 1 p.m. on Saturday, February 7 and then the Jets and Lady Jets both travel to Albany to face Albany Tech in a double-header on Monday, February 9. The two teams are on the road again on Wednesday, February 11th when they travel to Macon to face Central Georgia Tech in a 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. double-header. The two teams return home for a double-header with East Georgia State College on Saturday, February 14th at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.