South Georgia Technical College sophomore guard Justin Johnson took the ball the length of the court and sank a crucial layup to secure a hard fought 73 – 72 victory over the Middle Georgia Prep Lions in the final day action of the South Georgia Technical College Jets Holiday Classic. Middle Georgia Prep lost to the Shelton State Buccaneers in the opening day action in another close 87 – 83 contest.
The SGTC Jets were down 38 – 34 at the end of the first half and fell behind by as many as 14 points in the second half when the game nearly got away from the Jets with Middle Georgia Prep up 64 – 50. In fact, the only time the Jets led was at the final buzzer when the last second basket lifted them over Middle Georgia Prep 73 – 72.
Johnson and sophomore guard Jarius Carroll were the leading scorers for the Jets in that hard fought win with 15 points each. Johnson had a double-double night with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Carol added three rebounds, one assist and three steals on the night.
In addition to those two players in double figures, another sophomore, Brice Paster contributed 10 points, four rebounds and three assists. Lamont Sanders came away with nine points, Jalen Reynolds had eight, Denari Garrett scored seven points and Austin Hadden closed out the scoring with six points. Reynolds also pulled down eight rebounds for the Jets.
The win put the Jets back at .500 on the season with a 7 – 7 overall record. They will travel to Swainsboro on January 2nd to face East Georgia in their first conference game of the season before returning home to host Central Georgia Technical College in a conference doubleheader with the Lady Jets. The Lady Jets open at 1 p.m. on Saturday and the Jets follow with a 3 p.m. game.