The Southern Crescent Technical College (SCTC) Tigers men’s basketball team gave a valiant effort in the first half, but wilted after halftime and fell to the Gordon College Highlanders 85-56 Monday night at the Taylor Street gym.

The Tigers, who are playing NJCAA Division I teams to start the season, now drop to 0-5 on the season. SCTC is in Division III.

The Tigers hung with the Highlanders in the first half behind the sharpshooting of guard Vladimir Noel, who scored 21 points on seven 3-point shots. The Tigers sank 8 of 13 treys in that half (61.5 percent) which kept them in the game despite their rough 2-point field goal shooting (12/33, 36.4 percent).

Thanks to Noel’s hot start, the Tigers actually took a lead on Gordon and only trailed 39-36 at the half. It was a much better situation for the Tigers compared to their home opener on Nov. 14 against the Chattahoochee Tech Golden Eagles. In that contest, the Tigers never were in the game, falling behind 42-21 at halftime before getting drubbed 81-48.

“In the first half, we were running our sets, finding the open man and playing really

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good defense on Gordon,” said Tigers head coach Calvin Sinkfield. “The second half was a mess — we fell back into our old habits of playing one-on-one ball and not playing good defense.”

Gordon flexed its collective muscle in the second half and put the game away early. The Highlanders took advantage of the bad Tigers defense and played stellar defense themselves, going on a 31-6 run to take a 70-42 lead over SCTC with less than 10 minutes remaining in the game.

The Highlanders clamped down on Noel, who only scored 2 points in the second half to finish with 23 points and five rebounds. Trae Critten was the only other Tiger in double figures with 10 points while Ignacio Hood finished with 9 points and shared the team assist lead of three with teammate and former Spalding High standout Rodney Gilbert.

The Highlanders were led by Jarvis Williams with 24 points, five rebounds and three blocks. Tyler Brookins scored 19 points, Ira McDowell added 14 and Marquis Barnes chipped in 12 for Gordon, which shot 49 percent from the field compared to only 31 percent from SCTC.

The Tigers’ next game is Saturday, Nov. 24 against Darton College in Albany. Game time is set for 4:30 p.m.