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From Staff Reports

 

AMERICUS – The South Georgia Technical College men’s basketball team (SGTC) got plenty of production from sophomore forward Aaron Pitts Jr., who scored 38 points in an effort to help lead the Jets to a come-from-behind victory against the second-ranked Hawks of South Georgia State (SGSC) and force the Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) game into overtime. However, SGSC outscored the Jets 23-12 in the overtime period to capture the 87-76 victory.

“I was very proud of the way we came back against South Georgia State,” SGTC Head Coach Chris Ballauer said. “The guys did not give up and once we tied the game and even went ahead by three, we felt like we had a great shot to win in regulation. However, you have to give it to South Georgia State. They came back and tied the game and forced it into overtime. They had the momentum at that point and did what they had to do to win,” Ballauer continued.

The Jets trailed by as many as 15 points early and were still down 37-26 at the half. SGSC maintained a lead until SGTC sophomore guard Jordan Brown hit a three-pointer with 50 seconds on the clock to tie the game at 61-61.

Sophomore Nathan Wilson drilled a three-pointer with 26.1 seconds left to give the Jets a 64-61 lead, but SGSC rallied to tie the game at 64-64 with 15.7 seconds left. By the time the horn sounded to end regulation, the game was tied at 64-64 and had to be decided in an extra session.

The Hawks dominated the overtime session, scoring 11 unanswered points in nearly two and a half minutes. The Jets finally got on the board with a free throw with 2:36 left and they were able to cut their deficit to seven points with a little over a minute left. However, SGSC finished strong and went on to defeat the Jets 87-76.

The Jets shot three of 10 from the floor in overtime and only made one three-pointer. They made five of seven free throws in the overtime period, but only made 10-18 for the game. The Hawks hit seven of eight field goals, one three-pointer and made eight of nine foul shots in overtime.

The Jets are now 5-18 overall and they are in seventh place in the GCAA at 2-8. South Georgia State College is 8 – 1 and 19 – 4.  They are second behind the top-ranked Georgia Highlands Chargers who are 8 – 0 and 14 – 8.

Sophomore guard Aaron Pitts scored 11 of his points in the first half.  He ended the night with 38 points which was a career high for him at SGTC.  He also had four rebounds, six assists, two blocked shots and four steals.  Sophomore Nathan Wilson was the only other Jet in double-digits with 12 points and 10 rebounds.  He also had four blocked shots.

Bryce Turner added seven points before fouling out in regulation play.  Tim Loud, Jordan Brown and Ryan Djoussa each contributed six points and Justin Evans tossed in one point to close out the scoring for the Jets.

South Georgia State had five players in double-digits. They were led by Carlos Hart and Zae Wiggins with 17 and 16 points.  Kyric Davis of Americus had a total of 15 points and he was followed by Yannis Woods and Justin Edmonson with 14 and 13 points.

The Jets will travel to Griffin to face Southern Crescent Tech at 3 p.m. on Saturday, February 11 and then travel to Gordon State on Wednesday February 15.  They will host Albany Tech on Saturday, February 18 at 3 p.m. in a double-header with the Lady Jets. The Lady Jets game is at 1 p.m.

The Lady Jets play at home tonight. They host Andrew College in a rescheduled game at 5:30 and then host Central Georgia Tech on Monday, February 13 at 5:30 p.m. in another rescheduled game.