Three years ago Georgia Highlands College began their athletic program and tonight the Chargers secured their first berth in the NJCAA Region 17 Championship game with a 78-62 win over South Georgia Tech.
The Jets of South Georgia Tech were playing their best basketball of the year winning 14 of their last 15 games. The Jets took out to a fast start going on a 7-0 run. GHC battled back taking their first lead at the 10:00 minute mark of the first half 16-14. The Chargers with 1 second remaining on shot clock extended their lead to 7 on Paris Ballinger’s last second 3 pointer with 6:00 minutes left in the half. But South Georgia battled back and the Chargers led 35-31 at the break.
The Chargers high pressure defense was the story of the second half with the Chargers scoring 19 points for the night off turnovers. GHC’s bench outscored South Georgia Tech 33-14.
The Chargers were led by sophomore Montrel Goldston with 20 points, freshman Paris Ballinger with 17 points, and sophomore Ty Toney with 11 points. Sophomore Terrance Thompson had a huge night coming off the bench with 5 points and 12 rebounds.
With the win the Chargers go to 26-6 on the year. GHC returns to action tomorrow in the NJCAA Region 17 Championship game versus the winner of tonight’s South Georgia State / Atlanta Metro College game. Tip off for the GHC will be at 2:00pm, again at South Georgia State in Waycross, Georgia. You can watch the game live at www.thegcaa.com , click on the multimedia tab, then live video.

David Mathis
PHED Programs Manager
Assistant Director of Athletics
dmathis@highlands.edu
Office 706.204.2202
Fax 706.295.6356