Nov. 12, 2004
ATLANTA – Georgia Tech’s basketball team, ranked No. 3 in the preseason poll by the Associated Press, plays its final exhibition game at 2 p.m. Sunday, hosting LeMoyne College of Syracuse, N.Y.
Tech won its first exhibition, 80-60, last Saturday over Kennesaw State. The Dolphins, 17-11 last year, dropped a 101-46 game to Syracuse in their first exhibition.
Head coach Paul Hewitt was pleased, for the most part, with his team’s performance against Kennesaw State. The Yellow Jackets forced 15 first-half turnovers and 25 for the game, and limited the Owls to 29.6-percent shooting in the second half.
“We did a better job than I anticipated, and we need to pick up on that,” said Hewitt. “I want to see more of the same. Offensively, we need to get crisper in our execution, and that will happen.”
Junior point guard Jarrett Jack (6-3, Fort Washington, Md.) led the way for Tech with 14 points, nine assists and four steals while committing just one turnover in 23 minutes. He shot 5-of-8 from the floor.
Senior guard B.J. Elder (6-4, Madison, Ga.) scored a team-high 16 points, making 3-of-8 from three-point range and 5-of-12 overall from the floor. Senior center Luke Schenscher (7-1, Hope Forest, South Australia) also was in double figures for Tech with 12 points, making 6-of-7 from the floor.
The Yellow Jackets also got a lift from backup center Theodis Tarver (6-9, Monroe, La.), who continued his fine preseason play with seven points and two rebounds. He, Schenscher and freshman center Ra’Sean Dickey (6-9, Clio, S.C.) combined to make 11 of 13 shots from the floor.
Hewitt expressed some displeasure after the game over the last 10 minutes, when Kennesaw State began to press, scoring 10 straight points and whittling a 31-point Tech lead down to as little as 18. The Jackets also made just nine of 21 free throw attempts.
“When they pressed, we didn’t respond well,” said Hewitt. “But I was upset with our free throw shooting. But, we did a lot of good things.”
Freshman forward Jeremis Smith (6-6, Fort Worth, Texas), will not play in Sunday’s game as a precautionary measure after he was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his lower left leg early last week, a precursor to a stress fracture. He has missed practice most of this week is expected to be out until sometime next week.
