Hawks give Baldwin 200th career win, advance to GCAA Final Four
In a nip-and-tuck game that included 10 ties and six lead changes, the South Georgia State College Hawks punched their ticket to the GCAA semifinals Tuesday night with a 73-65 overtime win over South Georgia Tech.
"Our defense played great tonight," said head coach Cory Baldwin. "We held them to 25 points in the second half and only eight points in overtime."
Tyrone Sam's double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds led the way for SGSC. Karim Mawuenyega had 13 points and three steals, while Russell Keyhea also finished with 13 points. Andre Elam continued his strong performance on the boards by grabbing 10 rebounds.
In addition to winning their quarterfinal game, the Hawks also gave Baldwin his 200th career win in 10 seasons as a NJCAA head coach.
"It doesn't seem like 10 years and 200 wins, but man, I have enjoyed every one of them. I have a great wife who has always supported my calling to coach," he said. "I was so glad that she and the kids were able to be here tonight to celebrate."
Baldwin also thanked the assistants and players he has worked with over the last 10 seasons, as well as SGSC and the Waycross community, for supporting Hawks basketball since its inception in 2009.
"They (assistants and players) do all the real work," he said. "I'm also glad we were able to get the 200th win in Waycross, because we have an awesome faculty and staff and community that make me want to represent them to the fullest."
The Hawks now turn their attention to the rest of the GCAA Conference Tournament to be played Friday and Saturday at Georgia Highlands College in Rome, Ga. SGSC will face Central Georgia Tech at 5:30 p.m. Friday. The other semifinal game features Chattahoochee Tech against the top seed Georgia Highlands at 7:30 p.m.
The GCAA Championship game will be played Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. in Rome.