Jets and Lady Jets roll to victories over Albany Tech
The South Georgia Technical College Jets and Lady Jets rolled to impressive Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) victories over the Albany Tech Titans and Lady Titans in the Hangar on the SGTC campus in Americus recently.
The top ranked Lady Jets defended their first place seeding in the GCAA with a 66 – 47 win over the fourth-ranked Albany Tech Lady Titans in the opening half of the double-header and then the second place Jets roared to a 101 – 90 victory over the fifth-place Albany Tech Titans. The Lady Jets are now 11 – 1 in the conference and 19 – 5 overall. The Jets are 5 – 2 in the GCAA and 12 – 8 overall. They are in second place behind Georgia Highlands.
“We are still struggling,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “We came back in the fourth quarter and kicked it up a notch and that was good to see.” The Lady Jets were up 30 – 20 at the half but Albany Tech outscored SGTC 14 – 11 to close the gap to 41 – 34 going into the final 10-minute period. The Lady Jets rose to the occasion and outscored Albany Tech 25 – 13 to take the 66 – 47 victory.
Freshman shooting forward Ricka Jackson from Ewa Beach, HI, and Houlfat Mahouchiza, a sophomore forward from France led the Lady Jets in scoring with 14 points each. Jackson was two of three from the three-point line and four of seven from the field. She also had seven rebounds and one assist. Mahouchiza was 10 of 10 from the free throw line and two of five from the field. She also had five rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.
Sophomore forward Esther Adenike contributed 13 points to close out the double-digit scoring. She was three of four from the free throw line and five of fourteen from the field. She also had seven rebounds. Closing out the scoring for the Lady Jets was Dakata Toney with seven, Bigue Sarr with six, Fatou Pouye, 5; Cedeja James, 3; and Aubry Maulden and Sceret Ethridge with two each.
Following that win, the Jets and the Titans took to the floor and did battle for 40-minutes. South Georgia Tech started out behind 2 – 0 after Albany Tech sank two free throws from a technical foul on the table for not having an SGTC player listed in the official book. Despite the deficit, the two teams were tied at 43 – 43 at the half. Then the Jets took charge in the second half and walked off with the 101 – 90 win.
“We played hard and I was glad to see that type of hustle for the entire game,” said South Georgia Technical College Jets head coach Travis Garrett. “We finished the drill and came back with a good conference win.”
Adonis Green, a freshman forward from Stockbridge, GA, was the leading scorer for the Jets with 23 points. He was three of five from the three-point line, four of five from the free throw line and five of seven from inside the three-point line. Dawan Bass, a sophomore guard from Baltimore, added 20 points and he was followed by sophomore guard Rico Simmons, who came away with 18 points. Simmons was eight of eight from the foul line and two of five from the three-point line.
Sophomore guard Mike Boone contributed 15 points and then sophomore forward Marquel Wiggins closed out the double digit scoring with 10 points. Malik Wilson scored seven points, Emeshuan Offord had five and Durand Green had three points.
The Jets will travel to Barnesville on Saturday, January 27th to face Gordon State College at 4 p.m. and then the two teams will return home for another conference double-header against East Georgia State College on Wednesday, January 31, with the ladies opening at 5:30 and the men following at 7:30 p.m. The two teams will travel to Macon for a conference rematch with Central Georgia Tech on Saturday, Feb. 3rd at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.