Jets defeat Marion Military in 69 – 65 match-up
South Georgia Technical College freshman point guard Dijon Brown from Ft. Lauderdale, FL sank two free throws in the final seconds of the Jets match-up with the Marion Military Tigers from Marion, Alabama, to give the Jets a 69 – 65 victory and snap a six-game losing streak.
“I am glad that we got this win,” said South Georgia Technical College Jets head coach Travis Garrett. “We haven’t won since the first game of the season so this was big. I have been telling these kids that you have got to run and play hard. Winning is hard, if it was easy everyone would do it. This is a young team and we have just got to learn how to win. We are going to keep working hard until we figure it out. This is a start in the right direction for us.”
The Jets got on the scoreboard first and never relinquished that lead. The Jets pulled ahead by 10 points in the first half but in the final minutes Marion Military came back and outscored the Jets 9 to 2 to close the gap to 37 – 34 at the end of the first half.
The Jets kept the lead in the second half but Marion Military pulled within two points in the final minute of the game. Justin Johnson, a freshman guard from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, had a chance to put the game on ice with a one-if-one free throw with less than 20 seconds on the clock. He missed the first one and Marion Military got the rebound and attempted to tie the game. They missed and then fouled Jets freshman guard Dijon Brown.
Brown stepped up to the line and sank both of his free throws to put the game out of reach and clinch the 69 – 65 win for the Jets. Brown ended the game with a total of five points. Three of those were from the foul line.
Justin Johnson was the leading scorer for the Jets with 24 points and nine rebounds. He was the only South Georgia Tech player in double-figures. “Justin is a scorer, but we have got to get the other guys to score because as other teams scout us they are going to take him away. We are a young team and we just have to take advantage of situations and learn how to win.”
The Jets are now 2 – 6 overall and are averaging 69.4 points per game. They are shooting 39.8 percent from the field, 27.9 percent from the three-point line and 62.7 percent from the foul line. They are also averaging 33.8 rebounds per game and 9.5 assists.
Joining Justin Johnson and Dijon Brown in scoring for the Jets was sophomore forward Sam Matice who ended up with nine points and three rebounds. Freshman guard Lamine Conte contributed eight points, freshman Toriano Lewis had six points, and then Brown and sophomore forward Adonis Green followed with five points each. Jalen Wilson closed out the scoring for the Jets with four points.
The Jets will travel to Monroeville, AL on Saturday, December 8th to match-up against Coastal Alabama North at 4 p.m. CST. They will travel to Marianna, FL on December 14th and 15th to play in the Chipola Classic. They take on Gulf Coast Community College at 3 p.m. CST on December 14th and Chipola College on December 15th. They travel to Marion, AL for a rematch with Marion Military on December 17th before taking a break for Christmas.
The Jets return home on December 29th and 30th for the Jets Holiday Classic. They will play Shelton State at 2 p.m. on December 29th and Wallace State Community College at 2 p.m. on December 30th. The Lady Jets will also play at home December 29th – 31st in a Holiday Classic. They will face St. Petersburg College at 8 p.m. on Dec. 29th, Shelton State at 8 p.m. on December 30th, and East Florida College on December 31st.
Freshman Dijon Brown, 0, made two free throws in the final seconds of the game to ice the 69 – 65 victory for South Georgia Tech over Marion Military.