January 06, 2010
By DAVE JORDAN
The Brunswick News
Back home after a disappointing start to the new year, the College of Coastal Georgia basketball team opens conference play at home tonight with a 7:30 p.m. tip-off against Albany Tech at Howard Coffin Gym.
The Mariners, shorthanded due to eligibility issues following fall semester, fell 84-62 on Sunday at Central Florida Community College in Ocala. Only seven Mariners dressed for Coach Gerald Cox's team, which had won five of its past seven dating back to Nov. 16 prior to the Ocala trip. The Mariners stand at 5-10 overall entering tonight's Georgia Junior College Athletic Association opener.
"With a real point guard, we'd be all right," said Cox, whose team was without starting point man Antonio Tribble against Central Florida.
"We were playing with all big guys except Don Eason, who did a good job all things considered. Jonathan Brooks was our backup point guard."
Brooks, a 6-foot-7 sophomore from Macon's Rutland High, led CCGA on Sunday with a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds. Eason, a freshman from Brunswick High who stands 5-foot-8, finished with 14 points and was 4-for-4 shooting three-pointers. The Mariners out-rebounded the Patriots 44-42 but committed
19 turnovers while Central had just 4.
Tribble, a 5-11 sophomore from Newberry, S.C., has averaged a team-best 17.9 points per game through 13 games played. He may be back for tonight's contest, Cox said.
"We will just do what we have to do," said Cox of managing shorthanded until the rest of his roster can return.
"We fought, scratched and clawed (against Central). If we had gotten a break or two, we would have been OK. Free throws hurt us -- they made a lot more than we did -- and turnovers made the difference in the outcome."
Overall, the Mariners, who employ a dribble-drive-motion offense patterned somewhat after the Memphis Tigers of the NCAA, are averaging 88.3 points per game, second-best among the eight conference teams. The Mariners allow 80.5 per contest.
Brooks is second on the team in scoring with a 12.1 per-game average and leads the Mariners with 6.7 rebounds per game.
Albany Tech comes in 8-8 overall and fresh off back-to-back losses Wednesday and Thursday to Pensacola Junior College (74-70) and Chipola (Fla.) College (76-62), respectively.
The Titans are averaging 86 points per contest and yielding 77 and boast five players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Rahiem James at
13.8 per game.
The Mariners have actually posted victories on the floor in eight of their
15 outings, but three early season wins were vacated by the National Junior College Athletic Association when it was discovered in a random audit that a CCGA player had not completed a short semester course in time to qualify for the first semester of 2009-2010.
College of Coastal Georgia is back home on Saturday versus non-conference foe Aiken (S.C) Tech, then heads to Cochran for a Monday tilt with conference opponent Middle Georgia College.
Tip-off
A look at College of Coastal Georgia's next game:
Opponent: Albany Tech
When: 7:30 p.m. tonight
Where: Howard Coffin Gym
What: Georgia Junior College Athletic Association opener
Records: CCGA 5-10; ATC 8-8