The No. 18 South Georgia State College Hawks utilized a balanced scoring attack Tuesday night and punched their ticket to the GCAA semifinals with an 88-84 win over the Central Georgia Tech Titans.
Jovante’ Spivey led the Hawks (26-5, 15-4) with 18 points, two assists, and three steals. Cody Helgeland and Daniel Peace each had 15 points, with Peace dishing out 13 assists. DeAundray Rhett had 14 points and four rebounds, and JeVaughn Sanchez finished with 11 points.
The win didn’t come easy as the Titans hit seven three-pointers in the first half and made a furious comeback in the closing minutes of regulation. Head coach Cory Baldwin said the game was won at the free throw line where the Hawks shot 85 percent.
“It was wild tonight,” said Baldwin. “I thought they (Central Georgia Tech) came out very focused and hit some shots early and very late in the game. They also mixed up their defense to keep us guessing. I’m proud of how our guys responded.”
The win clinches home court advantage for the Hawks throughout the rest of the tournament. Their semifinal game is scheduled for Friday night at 7 p.m. against Atlanta Metro. Metro defeated Chattahoochee Tech 76-74 to advance.
“Metro is the only conference team to beat us at home this season,” said Baldwin. “We can celebrate tonight’s win for about 10 minutes, but then it’s back to work. There are some things we need to work on to prepare for Friday.”
Friday’s other semifinal game will feature South Georgia Tech and Georgia Highlands. Tip for that game is set for 5 p.m. The tournament semifinals and championship game will all be played on SGSC’s Waycross Campus.
General admission to Friday’s semifinal games will be $7. No SGSC regular season basketball passes will be accepted.