Middle Georgia State men’s team continues hot streak with another conference win

The Middle Georgia State basketball team competed in Cochran in some of their first Southern States Athletic Conference matchups last month, sweeping three SSAC showdowns in November to put them in good position for more conference games this week.

The first conference game was on the road back on Nov. 14, as the Knights defeated Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College 78-73 on the road in Tifton. MGA won again two days later, beating Thomas University in Thomasville 72-70 in another close game Nov. 16.

The latest win for the Knights was finally a home conference game and came by a more comfortable margin, as MGA defeated Point University 78-70 in Morris Gymnasium Nov. 23. 

The Knights actually trailed at half, heading into the break down 37-35, but did well to keep the game close after they went down 16-7 early. The roles switched in the second half, with Middle Georgia pulling away after multiple lead changes early but letting Point get back into the action later.

The Knights led by 10 points with about 13 minutes left but let the Skyhawks fight to within four points, though MGA eventually got the lead back up to eight before the final buzzer. 

Nick Cham led the team with 17 points, followed closely by Trevon Ragland with 14 and Milique Smith with 12. Trashawn Wilson also reached double digits with 10 points.

The win put the Knights at 7-2 overall and 3-0 in conference play. 

Wilson is the team’s leading scorer on the year, averaging 15.3 points per game through nine contests on the season. He also leads the team in three-point shooting percentage. Smith acts as the big man, leading in blocks and rebounds for MGA. The team averages 77 points per game as a unit.

After an exhibition game Monday and another conference tilt Wednesday, the Knights face Dalton State College on the road Friday night in another SSAC game at 7 p.m.

The women’s team has been less fortunate, starting the season 1-5 and losing its most recent game in Cochran. Point University won this time around, defeating the MGA women’s team 65-52 in a conference battle Nov. 23.

It was the Knights’ first game back in Cochran in more than three weeks after a long road trip. That run included two conference games, the first of which was a 66-55 win over ABAC Nov. 14 for MGA’s first victory of the season. The second was a 75-63 defeat at the hands of Thomas University Nov. 16.

In the home game against Point, the Knights did a good job keeping up with the Skyhawks for the majority of the first quarter, but a 7-0 run at the end of the period marked the beginning of the end for MGA. The deficit kept growing until the Knights were down 36-21 at the break.

Though MGA outscored Point by one in the third quarter, the deficit would prove too much for the Knights to overcome.

The loss dropped the women’s team to 1-5 on the year and 1-2 in the SSAC. The Knights will try to snap a three-game skid Wednesday against conference foe Life University after the paper goes to print, then host another SSAC opponent in Brewton-Parker College at Morris Gymnasium.