South Georgia State defeats SGTC Jets by two

South Georgia Technical College was down by two points with 6.4 seconds remaining on the clock when sophomore guard Rico Simmons drove the lane and made a lay-up to tie the game. The whistle blew for a foul but unfortunately South Georgia Technical College was called for a charge and the South Georgia State College Hawks of Waycross captured the 82 – 80 Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) victory and secured second place in the conference.
“We did not play well at all,” said South Georgia Technical College head coach Travis Garrett. “We shot less than 30% in the first half and only 54% in the second half. We were off offensively but we were still able to stay in the game. We just have to come ready to play for the remainder of the regular season and get ready for the tournament.”
The loss dropped the South Georgia Technical College Jets from a tie for second place in the GCAA with South Georgia State into fourth place. The Jets are now 9 – 5 in the conference and 16 – 11 overall. Georgia Highlands is currently the top-ranked team with a 12 – 1 record. South Georgia State took sole possession of second place with a 10 – 4 record and Central Georgia Tech is currently in 3rd place with a 9 – 5 record. South Georgia Tech and Central split in their contests but Central Georgia Tech won the last match-up.
Both South Georgia Tech and Central Georgia Tech have two games remaining in the regular season. A loss by either team could give the other team an advantage going into the end of the season tournament play. South Georgia Tech will travel to Albany Saturday for a double-header against Albany Tech. The Albany Tech Titans are currently in fifth place behind South Georgia Tech at 7 – 6. Then the Jets will host Gordon College Wednesday, February 28th at 7 p.m. in the last regular season match-up. Central Georgia Tech has two games left also. They will face Andrew College and Georgia Highlands. They beat Andrew but lost to Georgia Highlands in over-time earlier this season.
In the Jets match-up with South Georgia State College, the Americus squad trailed the entire game but still had the opportunity to take the lead at the final buzzer and secure a victory. The charging foul on Rico Simmons with 6.4 seconds left sealed the fate for the Jets with the 82 – 80 loss.
Sophomore guard Mike Boone and sophomore forward DeVante Foster were the top scorers for the Jets. They both had 20 points each. Foster also had six rebounds, and two assists. Boone had five rebounds and one assist.
Sophomore guard Dawan Bass was the only other Jet in double figures with 16 points. Emeshuan Offord added nine points, Dominique Walker tossed in six points, Marquel Wiggins had five and Rico Simmons closed out the scoring with four points.
The Jets and Lady Jets travel to Albany to take on Albany Tech at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Saturday, February 24th. That is the last regular season game for the Lady Jets, but the Jets will host Gordon State College at 7 p.m. on Wednesday February 28th.
As the GCAA regular season conference champs, the South Georgia Tech Lady Jets will host the NJCAA Region XVII tournament at the Hangar on the Americus campus on Friday, March 2nd and Saturday, March 3rd. The second and third place teams will face off on Friday at 5:30 and then the top-seeded Lady Jets will host the fourth-place team at 7:30. The two winners will meet in the championship game at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Right now, South Georgia Tech will play either Albany Tech or East Georgia and Central Georgia Tech and Georgia Highlands will fill the second and third place spots.