The South Georgia Technical College Jets managed to capture a 73 – 70 victory over Chattahoochee Valley Community College and former Jets head coach Douglas Byrd in a hard-fought battle Saturday in the Hangar. The Jets moved to 4 – 2 on the season.
Chattahoochee scored first but the two teams were in a constant battle for the lead in the first ten minutes of the game. SGTC finally pulled ahead and were up by as many 11 points in the final three minutes of the first half. But the Pirates rallied and cut the deficit to four points by the end of the first half to trail, 38 – 34.
The two teams scrapped back and forth for the lead in the second half. Chattahoochee seemed to be headed for the victory when they pulled ahead 66 – 58 with five minutes left on the clock. However, SGTC came back and tied the game at 66 – 66 with 2:35 remaining and went up 68 – 66 with 1:26 left in the game.
Mohand Ammad, a sophomore 6’ 5” guard from Paris, France, hit a three-pointer with 1:05 on the clock to allow SGTC to pull ahead 71 – 68. A free throw by Ryan Djoussa and Camarion Johnson in the final seconds of the game allowed the Jets to take the 73 – 70 victory.
“If we make our free throws and take care of the basketball, we will win,” said South Georgia Technical College Jets head basketball coach Chris Ballauer. “Unfortunately, we did not do too good a job of either, but we were still able to win.”
The Jets were 24 of 48 from the foul line and turned the ball over 13 times. Chattahoochee Valley was 16 of 30 from the free throw line and had 17 turnovers. The two teams were about evenly matched but the former Jets assistant coach was able to come away with the win against his former Jets head coach.
Four Jets were in double-figures in that game. Sophomore guard Deonte Williams from Sydney, Australia, was the top scorer with 16 points and he was followed by sophomore guard Mohand Ammad who had 13 points. Camarion Johnson, a freshman guard from Brunswick, and Ryan Djoussa, a sophomore forward from Dublin, Ireland, both added 11 points. Djoussa was also the leading rebounder with 10. Deonte Williams was next with nine.
Kameron Foman and Justin Evans tossed in seven points each. Israel Momodu accounted for five points and Daryl Bod and Harley Kent had two and one points respectively. Omari Hamilton was the leading scorer for Chattahoochee Valley with 23 points.
The Jets will take to the court on Tuesday, November 21 when they host New Rock Prep at 7:30 in the Hangar. The Lady Jets will be at home on Friday for the Pete Arrington Classic. They take on Chipola College at 6 p.m. Friday, November 24 and Miami Dade College at 5 p.m., Saturday, November 25.