Golden Eagles collapse in second half at South GA Tech, lose 89-75

Americus, GA - With much riding on the line on the road against South Georgia Tech on Saturday, the Golden Eagles saw a strong start wilt in the second half, as the Jets came back from a double digit deficit and pulled away late to win 89-75, in a matchup between the two teams currently at the top of the GCAA standings.

The Golden Eagles got balanced scoring in the first half, while gradually building a 41-31 lead by halftime. The Jets made solid adjustments, and began chipping away at the CTC lead. With the Eagles still up 50-41 lead a few minutes into the second stanza, the Jets went on a run to close the gap, eventually taking a slim one point lead. The Eagles seemed to whether the storm by answering several times, as the two teams traded baskets during the middle minutes of the second half. The Eagles last lead came at 62-59. The Jets went on a mini six to two run, to lead at 65-64, but then took advantage of a series of bad offensive possessions by CTC, followed by solid play in the paint for SGTC, which drew fouls on four consecutive possessions - to go along with two old fashioned three pointers by way of put backs in the paint. The Eagles suddenly found themselves down by nine with under six minutes to go and could never recover.

Amonte Potter led the Eagles with 21 points, while Alijah Bennett had 15 and Alyja Hennings 13.

SGTC's balanced offense was fueled by Vantrail Commings with 16, whiole Treshaad Williams and Derrick Evans each had 14, followed by Dante' Ottley's 11 and Brandon Jackson's 10. The Jets outrebounded CTC by a margin of 50-27, including 13 offensive boards which turned into multiple putback opportunities.

Both teams will try to regroup at home on Monday at the Smyrna Community Center, as the women will host Spartanburg Methodist at 5:30pm, while the men will take on Gordon State at 7:30pm.