Swainsboro, GA – The South Georgia Technical College Jets and Lady Jets split decisions with East Georgia State College in Swainsboro in key Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) contests, Saturday. The Lady Jets suffered a 69 – 66 loss while the Jets beat the East Georgia State College Bobcats, 77 – 69.
This was the SGTC Lady Jets first GCAA loss this season. The loss dropped them from tied for first place in the GCAA with East Georgia into a tie for second place with Andrew College with identical 2 – 1 records. The Lady Jets slipped to 7 – 11 overall this season.
The Lady Jets and the Lady Bobcats were tied at 22 – 22 at the end of the first quarter. East Georgia pulled away in the second quarter and were up 34 – 30 at the half. The Lady Bobcats stretched that lead to 46 – 40 by the end of the third quarter. And despite an attempt to comeback with a strong 26 – 23 effort in the fourth quarter, the Lady Jets fell, 69 – 66.
The Lady Jets only played seven players and three of those were in double-digits. Taja Bennett, a sophomore guard from Dallas, Texas, led the team with 27 points. She was two of seven from the three-point line and nine of 12 from the foul line. She also scored 12 points from the field. She also pulled down 11 rebounds for a double-double night.
She was paced by freshman guard Ja’Niya Broome from Hamilton, GA who added 23 points. Broome also led the team in rebounds with 13 for a double-double night. She was three of nine from the three-point line and four of five from the foul line. She also hit five two-point attempts. Jaidyn Elam, a sophomore guard from Pontiac, MI, was the only other player in double-digits and she had 10 points.
Jada Jones, a sophomore point guard from Fort Lauderdale, FL, had four points and 11 rebounds and Sephora Benth, a freshman guard from French Guiana, closed out the scoring with two points.
After the Lady Jets narrow loss, the Jets came out and secured their first GCAA win of the season with a 77 – 69 victory over East Georgia State College and former Jets head coach Travis Garrett. The Jets were able to turn a narrow 28 – 26 half-time lead into a 77 – 69 victory with a strong second half effort. The win moved them to 5 – 12 on the season.
Sophomore guard Jalexs Ewing from Augusta, GA, led the Jets with 22 points. He was joined in double-figures by freshman wing Guilliaume Schoentgen who added 11 points and freshman point guard Clark Mastin from Conyers, who had 10 points. Matt Mbole was the leading rebounder with 14. He also had eight points. Marc Ferdy had 11 rebounds along with five points on the night.
Marcellus Myles came away with nine points, Jarius Davis tossed in five, Reggie Cleveland had four and Frankie Raines of Oglethorpe closed out the scoring with three points.
The victory allowed the Jets to move from tied for last place in the GCAA to 6th place behind Central Georgia Tech (3-0); South Georgia State and Albany Tech tied for second (3 – 1), Andrew College in fourth place (2-1), and East Georgia in fifth with a 2 – 2 record. Gordon and Georgia Highlands are currently tied for seventh place (1-3) and Southern Crescent is ninth at 0 – 3.
The Jets will take on Southern Crescent on Wednesday, January 21st at 7:30 p.m. in the Hangar. The Lady Jets were scheduled to play the Southern Crescent women’s team at 5:30 but that game has been rescheduled until Monday, February 2nd at 5:30 p.m.