Georgia Tech Tops Lamar in Season Opener
Yellow Jackets Ride Dominant First Half to 88-69 Win Over Cardinals
"We had good energy tbe first 25 minutes, and then it dropped off for the last 15 minutes" , said Georgia Tech Coach Josh Pastner in his summary assessment of his team’s first official game of the 2018-19 season. Tech’s scoring reflected those energy levels fairly accurately .The Jackets scored first and did not allow the visitors to tally a point until the game was 5 minutes old.. Tech rode that quick start to a 44–22 halftime lead, built largely on the 17 points they earned from 16 Cardinal turnovers, as well as Lamar’s inability to hit a free throw ( 0 for 5 in the first-half).
Highlights for the Jackets included good scoring by Curtis Haywood with 11 points and effective ball distribution by Jose Alvarado who had 3 assists. Notable also was standout freshman Michael Devoe’s first shot as a Yellow Jacket , a 3-ball that he drained from the left corner. Alvarado’s first- half shooting was unimpressive. He hit only 1 of 6, misding all 4 of his 3 pointers.
The Jackets did get a bit of inside scoring from Abdoulaye Gueye and Sylvester Ogbonda who combined for 8 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
The 2nd half saw Tech come out strong to maintain their lead in the early minures . The bulge jumped to 28 at the 15 minute mark. Then came the energy lag that Pastner noted. Lamar ran off 10 straight at one point, prompting Pastner to reinsert his more experienced players to calm the storm. With the return of the starters, order was restored Tech scored 44 points again in the 2nd half. Lamar Coach Tic Price noted that his team had trouble throughout the game with Tech’s overall length, though his Cardinals outrebounded Tech by a 38-35 count.
The Yellow Jackets hatched 15 turnovers, but pleased their coach with 26 assists. Pastner said ".. there were lots of positives, but a lot to work on." Concerns include turnovers and coming with an effective front court presence. Both Ogbonda and Gueye fouled out in the 2nd half, emphasizing the lack of depth and experience in the Jacket’s front court.
Besides Devoe, freshmen Kristian Sjolund and Khalid Moore each made his college debut. Neither scored in limited action. Guard Shembari Phillips saw his first action as a Yellow Jacket following his transfer from Tennessee. He had a productive all-around game, scoring 10 points to go with 4 assists and 3 steals.
In all Pastner played 11 men, 8 of whom logged more than 15 minutes. He said his eventual preferred rotation would be more in the range of 6 or 7 players getting primary minutes.
Georgia Tech travels to Knoxville on Tuesday to take on Phillips’ former team. The Vols are expected to be among the top teams in the SEC this year.
Captions:
1) Tech tips off the 2018 season against the Lamar Cardinals of Beaumont Texas.
2)Tech Coach Josh Pastner praised his team’s energy and unselfishness citing the high assist total (26).
3) Jose Alvarado jumps out on a first half fast break
Patrick Conarro
RamblinSports
from my Sprint Phone.
