SGTC Jets drop pair of losses in Southwest Florida Classic

Published 9:32 am Saturday, January 7, 2017

From STAFF REPORTS

FT. MYERS, Fl. –  The South Georgia Technical College (SGTC) Jets fell prey to two tough Florida teams after an extended Christmas break in the Southwest Florida Classic in Ft. Myers, FL, recently. The Jets fell to Florida Southwestern in the opener on Dec. 29, 102-78, and then dropped a 93-77 decision to Daytona State College on Dec. 30.
The Jets are now 6-8 overall and are returning home to host their first Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association conference game on Jan. 7 at 3:00 p.m. against Central Georgia Technical College and former SGTC assistant men’s basketball coach, Reco Dawson. The Lady Jets open up the double-header action at 1:00 p.m. against the Central Georgia Tech Lady Titans.
Despite losing by 24 against Florida Southwestern, which is 11-4 on the season, the Jets had four players in double-figures. Andre Kennedy and Jalen Thomas were tied for the leading scorer honors with 13 points each. Marquel Wiggins had 12 points and Ed Jones closed out the double-digit scoring with 10 points.
Florida Southwestern hit 54.4 percent of their shots while SGTC only managed to hit 37.1 percent. Florida Southwestern also made twice as many three point shots and took 10 more two-point shots than the Jets.
SGTC was down 44-36 at the end of the first half, but Florida Southwestern widened the gap by outscoring the Jets 58-42 in the second half to capture the 102-78 victory.
After that disappointing loss, the Jets came back to drop a 93-77 loss to Daytona State College (13-4) in the next round of play. Andre Kennedy, again, led the Jets in scoring with 23 points. Thomas was the only other Jets player in double-figures with 10 points.
Davion Clark came off the bench to add nine points. Bobby Jackson, Jones, and Kashif Davis each tossed in six points for the Jets in that game.
Daytona State set the tone early and were up 41-28 at the end of the first half. The Jets came back in the second half to score 49 points while holding Daytona to 52 to end up with the 93-77 loss. The Jets only shot 35 percent from the floor in that game, hitting 28 of 79 attempts. They also only made four of 26 three-point attempts.
The Jets will attempt to get back on the right track this weekend as they open the GCAA conference schedule with Central Georgia Tech. The game originally scheduled for Wednesday against Chattahoochee Tech has been rescheduled until Jan. 24 at 7:30 p.m.  The Lady Jets will host Chattahoochee Tech on Jan. 21 at 1:00 p.m.