Hawks Capture GCAA Title; Next stop Hutch
ROME – There is no time like the present or better yet a conference championship to stop a streak for South Georgia State College Hawks.
GCAA Player of the Year Carlos Hart guided the No. 2 seed Hawks in defeating the top seed Georgia Highlands Chargers 76-72 Saturday afternoon to capture their second GCAA Tournament Championship in three years.
Hart had 23 points, nine rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots. Kyric Davis had 16 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
Saturday's win avenges SGSC's two regular season losses to the Chargers. Georgia Highlands left Waycross back in January with an 85-83 overtime win and defeated the Hawks 69-65 three weeks ago in Rome.
The Chargers built an early 15-6 lead as the Hawks started slow. "We were sleepwalking a little at the beginning," Baldwin said. "That first media timeout was a big key to the game for us. After that, we held them (Georgia Highlands) to where they only scored on five of their next 25 possessions."
South Georgia State turned a 9 point first half deficit into a 12-point lead before Georgia Highlands cut the lead to seven (35-28) at halftime.
"The only adjustment we made at the half was to tell the guys to be patient," said Baldwin. "Our goal wasn't really to milk the clock, but we wanted to slow things down."
The Chargers trimmed the deficit to two points multiple times in the last 20 minutes but could not overcome SGSC's strong performance at the free throw line. The Hawks missed four free throws the entire game (87.1 percent).
"What's going to be hard is to celebrate winning the conference and then have to stop the celebration to start planning and practicing for the national tournament," Baldwin said. "We'll probably enjoy this until tomorrow (Sunday) afternoon, and then it will be time to get back to work."
As Baldwin celebrated with this year's tournament championship team, he was quick to remember his 2015 players who won the regular season championship but watched the Chargers snatch away the tournament title in front of a capacity crowd in Waycross.
"We finally made up for that 2015 loss today," he said. "And, when you think about it, it almost happened in the exact same way. It took eight years, but we finally did it."
With the win the Hawks were automatically named the NJCAA Southeast District Champions and receive an automatic bid to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) National Tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas March 21-25, 2023.
Seeding for the national tournament took place yesterday during the NJCAA Division I Men's Basketball Selection Show with the Hawks being selected as the #17 seed and will take on #16 Monroe College on March 20th at 11:00 EDT.