CUTHBERT, GA - The South Georgia Technical College Jets and Lady Jets took two important Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) conference wins from Andrew College in Cuthbert, Wednesday night. The Lady Jets rolled to a 109 – 67 victory and the Jets fought hard and came up with an impressive 68 – 62 decision against a team they lost to 86 – 71 a little over a month ago.
Determination was the word that South Georgia Technical College Jets head coach Travis Garrett used to describe his team’s effort Wednesday night. “Our players were determined to win. Andrew College tried to just grind us down and wear us out, but our players showed a lot of mental toughness down the stretch and that was the difference in the game.”
Coach Garrett praised his team for staying focused and concentrating on finding a way to win. “Andrew has a good team. We both played hard but in the end our players came through. I think the toughness of our earlier schedule is paying off.”
This was the second straight win for the Jets and their seventh in eight games. The Jets are now 7 – 3 in the conference and in a three-way tie for second place with Central Georgia Tech and Gordon College. Georgia Highlands is currently in first place with a 7 – 2 record. Andrew is currently in a tie with East Georgia in the fifth place spot with a 5 – 4 record.
The night started off on a high note when Lady Jets sophomore guard Alyssa Nieves set two new school records to lead the Lady Jets to their 14th consecutive win. Nieves had 41 points, six rebounds, three assists, and four steals to lead her teammates to the 109- 67 victory over Andrew.
Nieves set the school record for the most points scored with 41 and also the record for the most three pointers in a single game with 11. Four other Lady Jets managed to post double-digit scoring in that contest as well. Fatou Pouye had 15 points, Kamya Hollingshed scored 14 points, and then Bigue Sarr and Ricka Jackson tossed in 10 points each. Fatou Pouye also had 11 rebounds and Bigue Sarr had 10.
Rio Yamazaki and Laky Samo had five points each. Mari Hill scored four points but also had 11 assists and five steals as well as five rebounds. Oumy Gueye and Amara Edeh closed out the scoring with three and two points respectively.
The Lady Jets also set two more school records in the game. This was the most points scored by the Lady Jets in a single game with 109. Previous high was 106. Also freshman Anna McKendree drew four charge fouls for a new record. The previous record was three.
“It was a good night. We came out early in the first quarter and put a lot of pressure on Andrew. I think that made a big difference in how we played overall. We have been playing sluggish in the first half in a lot of our games, but we came out and took control and they never bounced back,” said Coach Frey. The Lady Jets were up 27 – 11 at the end of the first quarter and stretched that lead to 51 – 21 at the half. They continued to outscore Andrew 35 – 23 in the third quarter and then the two teams both posted 23 points in the fourth quarter to end the game at 109 – 67.
While the Lady Jets game was never in doubt, it was a different story for the men’s match-up. Both teams played hard in a gym that was overheated. South Georgia Tech took an early lead but by the end of the first half, Andrew was only six points down with the score 27 – 21.
Freshman guard Nick Cummings came off the bench to lead the Jets in scoring with 13 points. He also led the team in rebounds with 10. “Nick had a good game. He made several key plays down the stretch and he hustled on defense and offense,” said Garrett.
Another standout for the Jets in the Andrew game was sophomore center Sam Matice. The 7’ 0” center had 12 points, nine rebounds, and five blocks. He did a good job on defense defending the basket in the paint.
Freshman forward Jeremy Johnson was the only other Jet in double-figures with 10 points but Justin Johnson and Jaylan McKinney were close behind with eight and seven points respectively. Adonis Green and Toriano Lewis both added six points, Johnathan Tchuissee accounted for four points and Brice Paster and DJ Fisher had one point each.
The Jets and Lady Jets will try to extend their win streaks on Saturday when they travel to Rome to take on Georgia Highlands. The Lady Jets will tip off at 2 p.m. against the second ranked Lady Highlanders and then the Jets will face the top-seeded Highlanders at 4 p.m. A win by the Lady Jets will virtually assure them of their fourth consecutive GCAA regular season title. A win by the Jets will lift them into a tie for first place in the men’s GCAA conference standings.
