Lady Jets and Jets split conference games with Central Georgia Tech in Macon

Macon, GA – Sophomore guard Alyssa Nieves from Tampa, FL, hit six consecutive three-point shots in the first half for the South Georgia Technical College Lady Jets to set the tone for the night and lead them to an 87 – 58 Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) Conference win over Central Georgia Technical College and move to 15 – 2 overall and 7 – 0 in the conference.
The South Georgia Technical College Jets were not as fortunate. Missed opportunities in the final minutes of the GCAA conference game with Central Georgia Technical College left them with a 76 – 71 loss to the Titans and dropped them to 4 – 11 overall and 0 – 1 in the conference standings.
“Alyssa Nieves had a great game,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “She definitely had a hot shooting hand in the first few minutes and that allowed us to jump out to a big lead and keep it.” The Lady Jets were up 28 – 15 at the end of the first quarter and then stretched that into a 46 – 22 lead by the end of the first half.
The Lady Jets continued to outscore Central Georgia Tech in the second half and coasted to the 87 – 58 victory to remain in first place in the GCAA Conference standings. Central Georgia Tech is currently in third place in the conference with a 4 – 2 and 5 – 10 record. Georgia Highlands is in second place with an 8 – 8 overall record and a 5 – 0 unbeaten record in conference play.
Sophomore Alyssa Nieves led the Lady Jets in scoring with 22 points in just 21 minutes of playing time. She was six of eight from the three-point line, two of two from the foul line and one of three from her regular field goal attempts. She also had one rebound, three assists, and four steals. She was joined in double-digit scoring by sophomore forward Fatou Pouye with 16 points and sophomore center Bigue Sarr with 11 points.
Freshman Kamya Hollingshed came off the bench to toss in three three-point shots to end up with nine points, sophomore Ricka Jackson had seven points, Amara Edeh accounted for six points, and Yasriyyah Wazeerud-Din came up with five points. Laky Samo came off the bench to add four points. Anna McKendree scored three points and Mari Hill and Rio Yamazaki both had two points.
While the Lady Jets contest was never in doubt, the Jets and the Titans battled back and forth with the Jets pulling ahead by 10 points in the first three minutes of play. But then the Titans roared back and captured the lead to go ahead by 10 points with a little over five minutes left in the half. Central Georgia Tech never relinquished the lead after that despite the Jets pulling within two and three points late in the game.
The Jets had ample opportunities to take the win in their first conference game of the season, but just couldn’t convert in the final minutes. Several missed dunks, free throws, and turnovers in the last two minutes left them trailing 76 – 71 at the final buzzer. The Jets had a chance to tie the game with less than eight seconds remaining but failed to get the ball inbounds. Central Georgia Tech got the ball and went the length of the court and scored to make the final 76 – 71.
Freshman guard Justin Johnson led the SGTC Jets in scoring with 26 points. He had 14 in the first half and 12 points in the second half. He was 12 of 23 from the field and two of three from the foul line. He was 0 of 1 attempt from the three-point line. He was the only member of the Jets to post double-figures.
Sophomore forward Adonis Green had nine points, and freshman guard Brice Paster from Macon tossed in seven points. The rest of the starting five added a total of 11 points. Sam Matice had six points and Jeremy Johnson scored five points. The Jets bench contributed a total of 18 points with freshman Nick Cummings from Eastman leading the way with nine points. Dijon Brown added four, Toriano Lewis and Johnathan Tchuisse closed out the scoring with three and two points respectively.
Central Georgia Tech’s Champ Dawson led his team in scoring with 20 points, DeJon Waters, Jr. added 14 points and Aaron Ridley, III, closed out the double-digit scoring with 12 points.
The Jets and Lady Jets will return to conference play on Saturday when they host Andrew College in a GCAA double-header. The Lady Jets will open up at 1 p.m. with the Jets following at 3 p.m. They will also both play at home on Wednesday, January 9th when they match-up against Georgia Highlands. The Lady Jets will open at 5:30 p.m. in a battle between the two unbeaten GCAA teams. SGTC is 7 – 0 in the conference and in first place and the Georgia Highlands Lady Chargers are 5 – 0 and in second place.
The Georgia Highlands Chargers are currently in first place with a 1 – 0 conference record and a 12 – 2 overall record. South Georgia Tech’s Jets are hoping to move up in the standings from last place at 0 – 1 and 4 – 11 with an upset win over the Chargers in the 7:30 game.