Cuthbert, GA - The South Georgia Technical College Jets’ season has been similar to a roller coaster ride. After an overtime upset win over top ranked South Georgia State College on the road, the Jets lost to eighth ranked Andrew College in a 75 – 73 battle on the road. The Jets fell to fourth place and 7 – 5 in the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) standings.
And while the Jets struggled, the top-ranked SGTC Lady Jets coasted to an 85 – 38 victory over the Andrew College Lady Tigers in the first part of the double-header. They moved to 11 – 1 in the conference and now enjoy a two-game lead over their closest conference opponent.
The SGTC Lady Jets may have the opportunity to host the NJCAA Region XVII tournament March 13 – 14 if they can remain as the top-seeded team in the GCAA Division 1 standings. Albany Tech is currently in second place with an 8 – 3 record followed by East Georgia at 8 – 4. Central Georgia Tech (3 – 6) is currently in fourth place followed by Andrew College (2-8), and Southern Crescent Tech (0 – 10). The Lady Jets have three conference games remaining in the regular season. The top-ranked team will draw a bye in the first round of the Region XVII tournament.
The Lady Jets jumped out to a 19 – 7 lead over Andrew College at the end of the first quarter and were up 41 - 15 at the half. They continued to outscore Andrew in the second half and were up 85 – 38 at the final buzzer.
Freshman Jamiah Gregory led the Lady Jets in scoring and rebounding with 20 points and 12 rebounds. She was paced by Kaiya Carter who pulled down 19 points and led the team in assists with eight. She also had seven steals.
Mariia Ignatchenko and Mio Sakano both had double-double nights with Ignatchenko winding up with 16 points and 10 rebounds and Sakano adding 13 points and 10 rebounds. Enola Papin was the only other Lady Jet in double digits and she had 11 points.
Closing out the scoring for the Lady Jets was Duilly Silva with four and Stephie Salumu with two points and five rebounds. Maria Favero had 10 rebounds on the night and Cheyenne Preston had three rebounds and four steals.
After that rousing victory in the first half of the double-header, the Jets came out sluggish and fell behind the Andrew College Tigers 45 – 33 at the end of the first half. Despite outscoring Andrew College 40 – 30 in the second half, they fell three points shy of the victory and lost 75 – 73.
The Jets had 22 turnovers and only shot 48.2% from the floor and were 16 – 30 from the foul line. They were also two of seven from the three-point line on the night.
Daryl Bod came off the bench to lead the Jets in scoring with 16 points. He was four of five from the foul line and six of eight from the field. Hendrens Bartelus came away with 15 points and led the Jets in rebounds with eight. Aiden Fitzgerald made both of the Jets three-point shots and ended the night with 11 points. He was follwed by Matija Vucic who closed out the double-digit scoring with 10 points.
Jalexs Ewing accounted for eight points, Jordan Dickson added five points and Matt Mbole tossed in three points. Joshua Langefels and Dwight Brown had two points each.
Both the Jets and Lady Jets will be back in action Wednesday, February 26 in a double-header against Southern Crescent. The Lady Jets open at 5:30 followed by the Jets at 7:30. The two teams will travel to Albany on Saturday to take on Albany Technical College at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The Lady Jets close out the regular season at home on Friday, March 7 at 5:30 p.m. against Andrew College.
The fourth-seeded Jets have four more games in the regular season. Following the Southern Crescent and Albany Tech games, they will host Georgia Highlands on Wednesday, March 5th and then host Gordon State College at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 8th for Sophomore Day.
The NJCAA Region XVII Division 1 men’s tournament will begin on Tuesday, March 11th with the top four teams hosting a quarter-final round and the highest seeded team remaining hosting the semi-finals and finals on March 14 and 15.
The Jets (7-5) are currently in fourth place behind South Georgia State College (10 – 2), Albany Tech (8-3), and East Georgia 7-5). Georgia Highlands is fifth (7-6), Gordon College is sixth (6-6), followed by Central Georgia Tech (4-7) and Andrew College (2-9). Southern Crescent is currently ninth at 2 – 10. But with a number of games remaining in the regular season, that tournament line-up could change.