SGTC Jets fall to Tallahassee Eagles in home opener
The South Georgia Technical College Jets scored on their opening possession to take a 2 – 0 lead over the Tallahassee Eagles but that was the last time they led in their 2025 -2026 home opener. The undefeated Eagles overpowered the Jets 69 – 56. The Jets dropped to 1 – 2 on the young season. Both Jets losses were to Tallahassee.
“It was a tough loss. We played hard but could not execute on offense, which in a game against a good team is imperative,” said SGTC Jets head coach Chris Ballauer. “Tallahassee is a really talented team that can score many different ways.”
SGTC’s Frankie Raines (4) is shown going up for a jump shot against Tallahassee.
Tallahassee defeated the Jets 88 – 81 when the two teams first met on November 1st in the Chiploa Classic in Marianna, FL. In Americus, the Eagles took command of the game early on and led by as many as 23 points with less than nine minutes left in the game.
The Jets fell behind by as many as 12 points in the first half but battled back to go into the half down, 40 – 30. None of the Jets managed to hit double-figures against Tallahassee. Sophomore center Matt Mbole from Yaounde, Cameroon, and freshman guard Frankie Raines from Greensboro, NC, led the team in scoring with nine points each. Mbole was the leading rebounder for the Jets with 10.
Freshman point guard Clark Mastin from Oglethorpe, GA, was close behind with eight points and sophomore guard Ilich Yacaman from Orlando, FL followed with seven points. Sophomore Jalexs Ewing from Augusta tossed in five points, freshman Jarius Davis from Thomaston, GA, and Dwight Brown from Conyers, GA, both contributed four points. Marc Ferdy had three points, Ralfs Iesalinieks, Noa Istrefi, and Guillaume Schoentgen all had two points and Dylan Barbara closed out the scoring with one point.
The Jets only shot 32.7% from the floor compared to Tallahassee’s 46.6%. The Eagles made 38.1% of their three-point attempts compared to the Jets 29.4%. Tallahassee also did better at the foul line hitting nine of 13 while the Jets were 17 of 29.
Four of the Eagles were in double-figures with sophomore Jaiden Blackmon leading the way with 14 points. Cole Hanson contributed 12 points and Orion Wilson and Cedric Taylor both ended the game with 10 points.
The Jets travel to Booneville, MS for a match-up tonight with East Mississippi Community College at 5 p.m. in the Northeast Mississippi Classic. They will play Northeast Mississippi at 4 p.m. on Friday. They hit the road again for the Eastern Florida Classic on November 14 and 15 where they face Indian River State College at 6 p.m. on the 14th and Eastern Florida State College at 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 15.
They return home for a repeat match-up with Chipola College on November 19 at 7 p.m. and then host the Sparky Reeves Classic on November 21 and 22. They play Northeast Mississippi at 8 p.m. on November 21 and Eastern Florida State College at 3 p.m. on November 22.