Jets and Lady Jets secure conference wins over East Georgia

The South Georgia Technical College Jets and Lady Jets secured Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) conference wins over East Georgia State College in Americus recently. The victory allowed the Lady Jets to remain in first place in the GCAA with a 12 – 1 conference record and a 20 – 5 record overall. The win for the Jets put them just one victory behind the top-ranked Georgia Highlands team in the GCAA standings. The second place Jets are now 13 – 8 overall and 6 – 2 in the conference.
The Lady Jets came away with a 54 – 39 victory after struggling early in the first half. The Jets took charge and walked away with a 95 – 75 win over the fifth ranked East Georgia College Bobcats.
“We struggled in the first half with turnovers,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and Lady Jets head coach James Frey. “We have got to protect the ball during transition and the other thing we need to do more consistently is shoot the ball successfully from the perimeter. If we start making the shots from the outside, it will open up the lane and our post players can be more effective.”
Freshman guard Alyssa Nieves from Tampa, FL, was the leading scorer for the Lady Jets with 17 points. She was also the only player to score in double figures. She was two of six from the three-point line and five of five from the foul line. Her other six points came from traditional field goals. She also had four rebounds and one assist.
Ricka Jackson, a freshman forward from Hawaii, scored eight points, sophomore forward Houlfat Mahouchiza added seven points, freshman guard Cedeja James and Bigue Sarr both had six points, and Dekata Toney and Esther Adenike contributed four points each. Fatou Pouye, a freshman from Senegal closed out the scoring with two points.
The Lady Jets struggled from the three-point line hitting only three of 16 attempts. They also struggled overall making only 30% of the shots and hitting only 76% of their free throws. East Georgia struggled offensively as well making only 29.5% of their shots from the field, 15.4% from the three-point line and 85% of their foul shots.
The Jets however came out in the second half of the conference double-header and had no problem scoring. The Jets put up 48 points in the first half and 47 in the second half to take the 95 – 75 victory over the East Georgia Bobcats.
“We are playing well right now,” said South Georgia Technical College Jets head coach Travis Garrett. “The players seem to have bought in. We had four guys in double-figures and we had several more that were close. We just need to continue to play and work together and get those wins.”
Sophomore guard Mike Boone was the leading scorer for the Jets with 17 points, two rebounds, and four assists. Sophomore guard Emeshuan Offord contributed 15 points including three three-pointers and then Dawan Bass, another sophomore guard, tossed in 14 points. The fourth sophomore guard Rico Simmons closed out the double-digit scoring with 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists.
Dominique Walker and Isaac LeComp both off the bench to add six points each and then Adonis Green, Malik Wilson, and Marquel Wiggins each accounted for five points. Sam Matric scored four points and then DeVante Foster and Durand Green both added three points. Nemanja Jovanovic closed out the scoring for the Jets with two points.
The Jets were up 48 – 30 at the end of the first half and then went ahead by as many as 24 points in the second half before clinching the 95 – 75 victory.
The Jets and the Lady Jets will travel to Macon for a conference rematch with Central Georgia Tech on Saturday, Feb. 3rd at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. They will return home on Wednesday, February 7th for a double-header against Andrew College. Those games will be at 5:30 and 7:30 in the Hangar on the Americus campus. Then on Saturday, February 10th the two teams will face off against Georgia Highlands College in a big conference showdown at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. This will also be South Georgia Technical College’s Alumni and Sophomore Day Event. An alumni game will be held at 10:30 featuring former Jets and Lady Jets players. A Tailgating cookout will follow at 11:30 and then the conference match-ups. Admission is free to the Alumni games.

Mike Boone (5) is shown above and he was the top scorer for the Jets against East Georgia.