Walterboro, SC – Turnovers and missed free throws continued to plague the South Georgia Technical College Jets as they allowed USC Salkehatchie to overcome a seven-point half-time deficit and outscore them by 10 points in the second half to clinch a narrow 76 – 73 victory.
The Jets dropped to 5 – 6 overall with the loss to USC Salkehatchie. The Jets were up 42 – 35 at the half, but only scored 31 points in the second half while allowing USC Salkehatchie to put up 41 and take the 76 – 73 decision.
South Georgia Technical College Jets head coach Chris Ballauer has stressed to his players that in order to win ballgames, they need to protect the basketball and make free throws. The Jets shot 33.3% from the foul line making only four of 12 opportunities. They also committed 15 turnovers and that combined with a low field goal and three-point shooting percentage saw the Jets drop another close ball game.
The Jets were 29 of 76 from the floor for a 38.2% field goal shooting percentage and hit 11 of 34 attempts from the three-point line to only make 32.4% of those shots.
Sophomore guard Deonte Williams was the bright spot for the Jets in that match-up with 22 points and 10 rebounds to post a double-double on the night. He was four of seven from the three-point line and nine of 16 overall from the field. He also had two assists, one steal and one blocked shot.
Mohand Ammad, a sophomore guard from Paris, France, and Justin Evans, a sophomore from Covington, GA, were the only two other Jets to score in double digits. They had 12 and 11 points respectively. Ammad walked away with five rebounds, three assists, a steal and a blocked shot to go with his 12 points and Evans had one rebound, one assist and one steal. Williams, Ammad, and Evans made 10 of the Jets 11 three-point shots.
Closing out the scoring for the Jets were: Camarion Johnson with eight, Kameron Foman, 7 points, Jaylen Woods, 5 points, Jafeth Martinex, four, Ryan Djoussa, three, and Israel Momodu with one point.
South Georgia Tech’s Jets will be off for the holidays but will return to the court on Saturday, January 6, when they travel to Bay Minette, AL to take on Coastal Alabama Community College at 3 p.m. in a game rescheduled from December 16.
The SGTC Lady Jets will take on some nationally ranked competition over the holidays at the Lady Jets Holiday Classic in the Hangar. They will open up against Snow College at 6 p.m. on December 28th. The tournament will officially begin on Friday, December 29 and continue until December 31.
On Friday, Pensacola State will play Shelton State at noon; St. Petersburg College will take on Tallahassee at 2 p.m. followed by Daytona State and Snow at 4 p.m. and the Lady Jets against the 4th place nationally ranked Gulf Coast State at 6 p.m.
Pensacola State and Dayton State open up at 12 noon on Saturday followed by Snow College and Gulf Coast at 2 p.m. and Shelton State and Tallahassee at 4 p.m. The Lady Jets will host St. Petersburg College at 6 p.m. Saturday.
On Sunday, December 31, Gulf Coast State and Shelton State play at 12 noon. Pensacola State and St. Petersburg match-up at 2 p.m. and Tallahassee Community College and Dayton State close out the tournament at 4 p.m.