Jets overcome 18-point deficit to beat South Georgia State
Published 12:59 pm Friday, March 1, 2024
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By Su Ann Bird
AMERICUS – Sophomore guard Deonte Williams scored 31 points to lead the South Georgia Technical College Jets to a come from behind 91 – 84 victory over the South Georgia State College Hawks in a Georgia Collegiate Athletic Association (GCAA) conference match-up.
The Jets got behind by as many as 18-points in the first half before they staged an impressive come back in the final seven minutes to secure the 91 – 84 decision and move into a tie for third place in the GCAA with Georgia Highlands. Albany Tech is currently in first place with an 11 – 2 record followed by Central Georgia Tech at 10 – 4. South Georgia State fell to fifth place in the conference following the loss to the Jets.
In an intense battle, the two teams went to the foul line 71 times in forty minutes. Thirty-five of those were in the first half. Three players fouled out and three others ended the game with four fouls. Kyric Davis and Amren Hoard fouled out for South Georgia State and Justin Evans fouled out for the Jets. The Jets’ Deonte Williams ended the game with four fouls and so did South Georgia’s Jamon Mangusho and Lay Davis.
The Jets scored first in the game, but that lead was short-lived. South Georgia State came back and dominated the first 20-minutes. They pulled ahead by as many as 18 points before the Jets cut the deficit to 53 – 40 at the end of the first half.
South Georgia Tech continued to whittle away at that 13-point deficit in the second half and tied the game at 72-72 with 7:23 remaining. The two teams were tied again at 74 – 74 with 6:48 on the clock. In those final seven minutes, the Jets stepped up and outscored the Hawks 17 – 10 to take the conference victory.
Deonte Williams was on fire in that match-up scoring 17 points in the first half and 14 in the second half to wind up with 31. He also had six rebounds, five assists and eight steals. Daryl Bod and Camarion Johnson were the only two other Jets in double-digits and Bod ended the night with 14 points and Johnson had 13.
Bod was six of six from the foul line with four of those late in the second half. Cameron Johnson led the team in rebounds with seven and he made seven of his 10 free throw attempts. Eight of his free throw attempts came in the second half.
Ryan Djoussa walked away with nine points, Kameron Foman and Israel Momodu both added seven points, Jafeth Martinez scored four, Jaylen Woods had three, Mohand Ammad accounted for two and Vaughn Prosser closed out the scoring with one.
Three South Georgia State players scored 17 points each. They were Kyric Davis, Devon Rainey and Lay Davis.
This was the Jets third consecutive win. They will face the top-ranked Albany Tech Titans on Saturday, March 2 as part of a double-header. The Lady Jets open at 1 p.m. followed by the Jets at 3 p.m. The Albany Tech Titans have a six-game winning streak. Their only conference losses this season are to Central Georgia Tech and East Georgia. The Jets lost to Albany Tech 74 – 69 in overtime in Albany.
The Jets will turn around and host Gordon College at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 6, and then the Jets and Lady Jets will close out the regular season on Saturday, March 9 on Sophomore Day against East Georgia at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.