The seconds clicked off the clock as the South Georgia Technical College Jets tried to stage a comeback to upset the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) fourth ranked Chipola State College Indians recently and Chipola walked away with a 69 – 64 decision in the Hangar. The loss dropped the Jets to 3 – 4 on the season and Chipola moved to 11 – 0.
The Jets missed a three-point shot and a layup in the last 30 seconds of the match-up with Chipola, which could have propelled them to a tie and possibly a chance to take the win in overtime. “We just didn’t execute when we needed to,” said South Georgia Technical College Jets head coach Chris Ballauer. “Chipola is a great team and they punish you when you make mistakes. We had opportunities to win, but we just couldn’t take advantage of those opportunities.”
The SGTC Jets lost to Chipola 85 – 57 earlier in the season in Marianna, FL. Former SGTC Jets assistant coach Jaren Harris is now an assistant coach for the Chipola Indians. “We ran into some foul trouble, missed some shots, and had too many turnovers, but I felt like we showed what we could do against a highly ranked team” added Ballauer. “I believe this type of competition will help us as we move forward.”
The game was very physical and both teams played strong defense. This was the first time this season the Chipola had been held to less than 70 points. They have scored as many as 108 points and are averaging 85.7 points per game. The Jets are averaging 73.8 points per game and their highest point production is 91.
Sophomore forward Bryce Turner led the Jets in scoring with 20 points. He also pulled down eight rebounds and had one assist. Sophomore forward Nathan Wilson and sophomore guard Semaj Henderson both tossed in 12 points for the Jets. Henderson had five rebounds and six assists. Wilson, who got into foul trouble early and had limited playing time, brought down nine rebounds and had two assists and two blocked shots.
Sophomore Aaron Pitts, sophomore Kallin Fonesca, and freshman Deonta Williams each scored six points and freshman forward Ryan Djoussa closed out the scoring with two points.
Chipola had three players in double digits. Derrick Butler led the scoring with 17 points, Deyton Albury added 16 and Jatarion Warren had 10 points.
The Jets travel to Melbourne, FL this weekend to play in the Eastern Florida Classic. They face Eastern Florida State College on Friday and Daytona State College on Saturday. They return home on Tuesday, December 6th for a matchup with Action Sports Academy at 7 p.m. The Lady Jets will travel to Phoenix City, AL, to take on Chattahoochee Valley Community College on Monday, December 5th at 6 p.m. and then return home on Friday, December 9th to face East Georgia in a GCAA conference game at 5:30 p.m. They will also host Albany Tech at 1 p.m. on Saturday, December 10th.