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.
