GHC Basketball Teams Score Conference Wins
Saturday was an important date for both GHC teams as they begin the stretch run to the GCAA conference tournament by taking on the Lady Titans and Titans of Albany Technical College.
Saturday was an important date for both GHC teams as they begin the stretch run to the GCAA conference tournament by taking on the Lady Titans and Titans of Albany Technical College. The Lady Chargers entered the day alone in 2ndplace and looking to hold pace with league-leading South Georgia Tech, the only GCAA team to beat the Lady Chargers. The men came into the game tied for 1st place with Albany Tech. The winner of this contest would grab sole possession of the conference lead. When the day was over, both teams came away with important conference wins.
The women's game started out close, with the Lady Chargers holding a 1-point lead at the end of the 1st quarter, 13-12. The 2nd quarter saw GHC outscore Albany Tech 23-9 as they opened up a 36-21 halftime lead. The second half was more of the same as the Lady Chargers outscored the Lady Titans by 16 points in the 3rd quarter and 10 points in the 4th. When the final buzzer sounded, the ladies had cruised to an 81-40 victory. The win moves the Lady Chargers to 11-8 overall and 7-2 in the conference, a two-game lead over 3rd place Central Georgia Tech. This positions the team well to host at least a first round game in the GCAA tournament.
GHC was led by Jahnaria Brown, who had a big game coming off the bench with 20 points and 14 rebounds. O'Mariyah Tucker also put up a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Nijeria Jordan chipped in 11 to round out the Lady Chargers in double-figures. Sandra Lin led the team with 6 assists and Sasha Shiskina grabbed a team-high 3 steals.
The Charger men looked to have a tougher time in their contest, as Albany Tech was sitting at the top of the GCAA standing with a 5-0 record to GHC's 4-0. The contest turned into a tale of two halves. In the first half, everything went the way of the Chargers. Led by Langston Wilson and Taj Fraley, the Chargers outshot the Titans 55% to 31% from the floor as they built a 24-point halftime lead, 54-30. The game looked well in hand but Albany Tech would turn things around in the second half. Led by Jacquez Fountain (17 second-half points), Jalen Brown (16 second-half points) and Vinicius Viana (11 second-half points), the Titans went on a 25-10 run in the first 7 minutes of the 2nd half to cut the Chargers lead to 9. The game stayed within 15 points the rest of the way. Aided by some great 2nd half free-throw shooting (12-13 for 92%) the Chargers were able to hold on for the victory, in spite being outshot by the Titans 50% (on 42 shots) to GHC's 45% (on 29 shots) from the floor.
The Chargers had 5 players in double-figures, led by Jamal Burke with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Langston Wilson added 18 points, Cahiem Brown and Taj Fraley had 14 apiece and Nicolas Huteau scored 12. Trevin Wade had an off night with only 9 points but distributed the ball well with 8 assists. The win is GHC's 11th in a row and moves their season record to 14-4 and 5-0 in the conference.
The men are on the road against Gordon State College on Wednesday the 22nd and against East Georgia State College on Saturday the 25th. The women also travel to take on East Georgia State College on the 25th. Both teams return to action at the Corral on January 29th against Central Georgia Tech. The women tip-off at 2:00PM and the men at 4:00PM. Both those games will be streamed live on the Charger Sports Network YouTube channel.