Jets, Lady Jets split in GCAA conference match-ups
The South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets secured their fourth consecutive Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) Conference victory in a 79 – 41 decision over Southern Crescent Technical College’s Lady Tigers but the Jets were not as fortunate and fell 63 – 54 to the South Georgia State College Hawks as part of the double-header action in Americus.
The win propelled the Lady Jets to 8 – 2 and allowed them to remain in a tie for first place with East Georgia State College. East Georgia is 15 – 7 overall and SGTC is now above .500 with a 13 – 12 season record. Albany Tech (6-6) is in third place followed by Central Georgia Tech (4 – 5), Andrew College (4-6) and Southern Crescent Tech fell to 0 – 9 and is in last place in the conference standings.
Jalexs Ewing (0) scored 11 points in the Jets loss to South Georgia State College.
In the men’s Division 1 conference standings, Central Georgia Tech (9 – 1) is in first place followed by South Georgia State (8 – 3) and Albany Tech (7 – 4). South Georgia Tech remained in fourth place despite the loss. The Jets fell to 6 – 5 in the conference and 10 – 15 overall.
Gordon College (6-6) and East Georgia (6 – 6) are tied for fifth place, with Georgia Highlands (4-7), Andrew College (2- 9) and Southern Crescent (1 – 8) bringing up the rear.
In the opening game, the Southern Crescent Lady Tigers kept the score fairly close with the Lady Jets only up 13 – 8 at the end of the first quarter. SGTC stretched that lead to 32 – 21 at the conclusion of the first half. The Lady Jets outscored Southern Crescent 47 – 20 in the second half to coast to the 79 – 41 victory.
Three Lady Jets were in double-digits. Freshman guard Ja’Niya Broome led the team with 23 points, six rebounds and four assists. Taja Bennett, a sophomore guard, and Sephora Benth, a freshman guard, both had double-double nights with Bennett scoring 19 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Benth had 10 points and led the team in rebounding with 14.
Jaidyn Elam tossed in eight points for the Lady Jets followed by Candice Ganga and Jada Jones with seven points each. Glory Kaine added three points and Sarah Mellouk had two points on the night.
After the Lady Jets clinched their fourth straight win, the South Georgia Tech Jets and the South Georgia State Hawks took to the court in a low scoring defensive battle. The Jets did not even score in the first five minutes. And South Georgia State had only sunk two baskets during that same time period.
The two teams continued to battle and only hit a combined total of 10 points (4 – 6) with 11:55 remaining in the first half. The half-time score had South Georgia State ahead 30 – 21 and the Jets went the entire game without tying or leading.
Both teams scored 33 points in the second half. The Jets did pull within six points with less than a minute left, but then fouled to try and get the ball back and ended up losing 54 – 63. The Jets hit less than 30% of their total shots and only 12.5% of their three-point attempts and 54.5% of their foul shots.
Sophomore guard Jalexs Ewing and sophomore forward Marc Ferdy were the only two Jets in double-digits with 11 and 10 points respectively. Ewing and Ferdy also had nine rebounds. Sophomore Center Matt Mbole tossed in eight points and led the team in rebounds with 11.
Clark Mastin and Marcellus Myles both added seven points each, Guilaume Schoentgen and Ilich Yacaman came away with five and four points respectively and then Dwight Brown closed out the scoring with two points.
The Jets and Lady Jets will return to the courts Saturday, February 21st when they host Andrew College in a conference double-header. The action starts at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The Lady Jets will then travel to Swainsboro for a third regular season match-up with East Georgia State College to see who claims first place in the regular conference season play. They split in their previous matches and this game is a make-up game that was postponed from January.
After that Monday game, the Jets and Lady Jets will then travel to Griffin to play Southern Crescent in a double-header at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 25th before hosting Albany Tech on Saturday, February 28th in a double-header for Homecoming, Alumni, and Sophomore Day. The games begin at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.