The South Georgia Technical College Jets will face the South Georgia State College Hawks in the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XVII semi-finals at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 4th in Rome, GA in the Georgia Highlands College gymnasium.
South Georgia Tech and South Georgia State met in the NJCAA Region XVII semi-finals last season in Waycross. The Hawks won 73 – 67 and advanced to the finals where they defeated East Georgia State College 75 – 69 for the right to compete in the NJCAA Division I men’s basketball tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas. Coach Ballauer and the Jets are hoping for a different outcome this season.
The two teams have met twice this season and split decisions. South Georgia Tech won in Americus 86 – 85 in January and the Hawks won 73 – 71 in February in Waycross. “This should be a good game,” said South Georgia Technical College Jets head coach Chris Ballauer. “We have played twice and either game could have gone either way.”
The Jets are now 20 – 11 on the season and ranked second in the GCAA regular season standings. South Georgia State College finished in third place with an identical conference record (11 – 5). The Hawks are 23 – 8 overall. SGTC was able to secure the second-place spot based on their two wins against Georgia Highlands, which was the only higher ranked team. Georgia Highlands is 12 – 4 in the conference and 20 – 11 on the season.
Top-ranked Georgia Highlands will match-up against Albany Tech in the other semi-final game at Georgia Highlands in Rome. Game time will be 8 p.m. The winners of the semi-final rounds will advance to the finals on Saturday, March 5th at 3 p.m. at Georgia Highlands gym in Rome. The winner of the tournament will earn the right to advance to the NJCAA National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, March 14 – 19.