Jets and Lady Jets sweep Albany Tech in GCAA conference games

February 3, 2025
Aiden Fitzgerald, 20, led the Jets in scoring with 17 points against Albany Tech. He had five three pointers.
Aiden Fitzgerald, 20, led the Jets in scoring with 17 points against Albany Tech. He had five three pointers.

   The South Georgia Technical College Jets and Lady Jets captured Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) wins over Albany Technical College in the Hangar Saturday.  The Lady Jets opened with an 86 – 66 victory over the Lady Titans and then the Jets out scored Albany Tech 45 – 26 in the second half to take a 72 – 59 win.

   This was the Jets third conference win in four games and moved them to 3 – 3 in the GCAA and 5 – 15 overall.  The Jets are currently tied with East Georgia (3 – 3) for fifth place in the GCAA behind unbeaten South Georgia State College (5 – 0), Gordon College (4 – 1), Georgia Highlands (4 – 2), and Albany Tech (3 – 2).  Central Georgia Tech (2 – 3), Andrew College (1 – 5) and Southern Crescent Tech (0 – 6) are in seventh, eighth, and ninth places.

  The Lady Jets moved to 5 – 1 in the GCAA and 14 – 6 overall with the win over Albany Tech.  They are currently in second place behind the unbeaten East Georgia (6 – 0) squad and the Lady Jets will face East Georgia tonight (Monday, February 3) at 6 p.m. in a rematch that saw them lose by four points on January 18.   This game was originally scheduled for January 11th and had to be postponed due to weather.

   Despite the 20-point victory, the Lady Jets trailed Albany Tech 19 – 18 at the end of the first quarter.  They came back and took a slight 42 – 40 lead at the end of the first half.  A strong third quarter that had SGTC outscoring Albany Tech 26 – 12 gave them the momentum to coast on to the 86 – 66 victory.

   Sophomores Enola Papin and Mio Sakano led the Lady Jets in scoring with 18 points each.  Papin was three of nine from the three-point line and was five of five from the foul line.  She also led the team in rebounds with 12 for a double-double night.  Sakano was also perfect from the foul line hitting three of three and then she also sank one three-pointer and six field goals.

   Freshman Jamiah Gregory and Stephie Salumu both added 13 points each and they were followed by Mariia Ignatchenko who tossed in 12 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for a double-double night.  Duilly Silva added six points, Cheyenne Preston had four points and Hayda Toro closed out the scoring for the Lady Jets with two points.

   The Jets were led in scoring by freshman forward Aiden Fitzgerald with 17 points.  He was five of 10 from the three-point line.  Freshmen Hendrens Bartelus and Jalexs Ewing were the only other Jets in double-digits.  Bartelus came away with 11 points and 10 rebounds on the night and Ewing had 10 points and seven rebounds.

   Freshmen Dwight Brown and Jordon Dickson both contributed nine points each. Matt Mbole added seven points while Daryl Bod tossed in four points, and Ilich Yacaman and Matija Vucic closed out the scoring for the Jets with three and two points respectively.

   The Jets will travel to Gordon State College on Wednesday, February 5th to try and move up in the GCAA standings.  They will return home for a double-header against Central Georgia Technical College on Wednesday, February 12, with games at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m.