Jets, Lady Jets sweep Southern Crescent in GCAA match-ups

GRIFFIN, Ga – The South Georgia Technical College Jets and Lady Jets extended their winning streaks to three and four consecutive Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) games with the Jets securing a 79 – 68 victory over the Tigers while the Lady Jets coasted to a 103 – 39 decision over the Lady Tigers.

   The win allowed the Lady Jets to remain in sole possession of first place in the GCAA Division 1 women’s standings and the Jets were able to move up into 4^th place in the GCAA men’s Division 1 standings.  The Lady Jets are 7 – 1 in the conference and 16 – 6 overall.  The Jets are 5 – 3 in the conference and 7 – 15 on the season.

   This was the third time this season and third time in six games that the Lady Jets scored over 100 points against a GCAA opponent.  They defeated Central Georgia Tech 115 – 70, Andrew College 104 – 51, and Southern Crescent, 103-39.  The Lady Jets are averaging 78.8 points per game while only giving up 63.3 to their opponents.  In the conference, they are outscoring their opponents by an average of over 30 points per game.

   Freshman guard Kaiya Carter from Houston, TX, came off the bench to lead the Lady Jets to the impressive win over Southern Crescent.  She had a total of 30 points.  She was 10 of 16 from the floor, six of 10 from the three-point line and hit four of her five free throw attempts.

   She was joined in double-figures by sophomores Enola Papin and Mio Sakano and freshman Jamiah Gregory.  Papin came away with 22 points, Mio Sakano added 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds. Jamiah Gregory closed out the double-digit scoring with 11 points and led the team in rebounding with 12.

   Freshman guard Stephie Salumu scored seven points and had a total of 11 rebounds. Cheyenne Preston added five points and then Duilly Silva and Hayda Toro closed out the scoring with four points each.

   In the men’s game, the Jets were able to turn a 38 – 35 half-time lead into a 79 – 68 victory behind a strong defense and scoring by a number of players.  Freshman guard Jalexs Ewing was the top scorer for the Jets with 13 points and then freshmen Hendrens Bartelus and Jordon Dickson, along with sophomore Daryl Bod tossed in 10 points each.  Matija Vucic came away with nine points and Joshua Langefels contributed eight points.

   Aiden Fitzgerald and Jayden Simmons had five points each, Dwight Brown scored four points and then Jayden Simmons and Matt Mbole accounted for two points each.  Zhian Briggs closed out the scoring with one point.

   The Jets and Lady Jets will be back in action Wednesday night when they host Central Georgia Tech in GCAA contests in the Hangar.  The Lady Jets kick off the doubleheader at 5:30 p.m. followed by the Jets and the Titans at 7:30 p.m.  Then the two teams travel to Swainsboro on Saturday, Feb. 15^th for an important double-header with East Georgia.

   East Georgia’s women are currently in second place in the GCAA behind South Georgia Tech with a 7 – 2 record.  East Georgia’s two losses came from South Georgia Tech and Albany Tech.  The Lady Jets only loss was a close 84 – 80 decision to East Georgia.  The East Georgia men are currently in second place in the GCAA with a 6 – 3 record while South Georgia Tech is fourth at 5 – 3.  A win by the Jets and Lady Jets would help secure host slots for the NJCAA Region XVII playoffs.  South Georgia State College is currently in first place in the men’s conference with a 7 – 1 record.  The Jets will travel to Waycross on Wednesday, February 19^th for a rematch at 7 p.m.