Jets defeat GCAA defending champ Gordon College

BARNESVILLE, GA - The South Georgia Technical College Jets overpowered the defending Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) champion Gordon College Highlanders 72 – 55 in the quarter-final round of the 2013 GCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Tuesday night in Barnesville, GA.

The win allows the South Georgia Technical College Jets to advance to the semi-final round of the tournament. The Jets will play on Friday, March 8th at 5:30 p.m. at East Georgia College in Swainsboro. They will match-up against the second ranked Chattahoochee Technical College Golden Eagles. 

Chattahoochee Tech defeated Waycross 83 – 69 on Tuesday to advance to the semi-finals. The top-ranked East Georgia College group will face-off against Middle Georgia College at 7:30 p.m. Friday. East Georgia defeated Central Georgia Tech 86 – 77 and Middle Georgia College defeated Georgia Perimeter 61 – 47. The GCAA championship game will be played at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 9th in Swainsboro at East Georgia College.

“This was an outstanding defensive effort on the part of the Jets last night,” said South Georgia Technical College Athletic Director and men’s head basketball coach Steven Wright. “We were focused, we were determined, and we were tough! I am especially proud of B.J. Davis. He made some key three-point shots in the second half.”

The Jets started out slow against Gordon College and fell behind by as many as 10 points in the first half. Gordon College out-performed South Georgia Tech in every statistic in the first half except in total points on the scoreboard. The Jets hit a last second three point shot at the end of the first half to pull ahead 28 – 26.

South Georgia Tech came out in the second half, took command and never looked back as they pounded Gordon College to capture the 72 – 55 victory. Sophomore B.J. Davis was five of nine from the three point line to tie for top-scorer for the Jets. Four of his five three point baskets came in the second half.

Sophomore Stedmon Lemon was the other leading scorer for the Jets. He had a total of 15 points on the night, but 14 of those came in the first half to allow the Jets to stay in the game and finally pull ahead 28 – 26 at the half.

Freshman guard Dario Duque was the only other Jet in double-figures against Gordon College with 12 points. He was 12 of 12 from the free throw line. Ten of those free throw points came in the second half.

South Georgia Tech’s scoring was equally distributed between the starters and the reserves. The Jets starters scored 36 of their total points and then the reserves scored 36 points to present a balanced attack against Gordon.

In addition to the double-digit scoring by Stedmon Lemon, B.J. Davis, and Dario Duque, Octavius Green added nine points and 12 rebounds, Ryan Outar had seven points, Anthony Ethridge had five points and seven rebounds, Houston Cabbell added three points and five assists, and Jose Hernandez added two points.

The Jets made 68.6% of their free throws making 24 of 35 while Gordon College was 50% from the foul line or four of eight. Free throws made the difference in the overall game.

South Georgia Tech will now face the second-seeded Chattahoochee Tech Golden Eagles. Chattahoochee Tech defeated South Georgia Tech twice in regular season play. The Golden Eagles won 82 – 80 in the match-up in Marietta on January 4th and then came to Americus and defeated the Jets 69 – 68 on February 9th.

“Chattahoochee Tech has beaten us twice by a total of three points, so the game Friday night should be another war,” said Jets head Coach Steven Wright. “We will be ready!”

Both Chattahoochee Tech and South Georgia Tech have won their last two games. Chattahoochee Tech won eight of their last 10 games and South Georgia Tech is 5 – 5 over their last 10 matches.

The Jets are now 22 – 9 overall this season and 11 – 9 in GCAA while Chattahoochee Tech is 17 – 3 in the conference and 27 – 4 overall. Their three conference losses came from East Georgia, Central Georgia Tech, and Middle Georgia. They lost by 10 points to East Georgia, six points to Central Georgia Tech and two points to Middle Georgia.