CLEVELAND, Tenn. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team entered Thursday night's game against the Lee Flames looking for their first ever win at Paul Dana Walker Arena in Cleveland, Tenn. They got it, and they got it with relative ease after an outstanding second-half shooting effort led the Blazers to an 83-68 win in Gulf South Conference play on the road.
Led by 6'8" senior forward Rantavius Gilbert's 3-of-3 shooting in the first half and Keevin Tyus' seven first half rebounds, a persistent inside-game attack from the Flames on offense led to a 45.2 percent shooting effort and helped Lee take a 41-36 advantage into the locker room at the midway point.
It was all Blazers from that point forward, however, as Head Coach
Mike Helfer's squad came alive on the attack for a 60.0 percent (18-of-30) shooting performance from the field and a 50.0 percent, 9-of-10 effort from the charity stripe following intermission. Those second half numbers helped lift the Blazers to an overall 33-of-65 shooting display from the field for 50.8 percent, and VSU's 13-of-15 86.7 percent complete game offering was one that Helfer referred to as one the best free throw shooting nights of any team he's ever coached.
The Blazer defense did allow 52 points in the paint, but the team accomplished their goal of shutting down CJ Reese, who entered the contest as the team's top scorer with an average of 16.9 points per game and represented the GSC's most efficient shooter at 66.2 percent. Following the contest, Helfer commended the defensive strategy of Assistant Coach
Jason Mays, who put together a game plan that the Blazer defense executed to perfection, holding Reese to just five points on 2-of-9 shooting from the field.
Shaun Jones continued to shine for the Blazers and added another 20-plus point effort on offense with 21 points scored in just 19 minutes of play. Jones biggest contributions came in the second half with several key buckets, including a 15-foot jumper, which he buried while being fouled. The play represented one of two three-point plays for Jones and led to a 9-of-17 shooting performance from the floor.
Chris Bilbo dished out a season-high ten assists in the contest and just missed a double-double with eight points. Meanwhile,
Jeremiah Hill and
Saadiq Muhammad continued to impress with 16 points each. Muhammad also cleaned up the boards with a team-high seven rebounds, including a couple of key offensive rebounds in the final minutes of the contest.
With the victory, Valdosta State improved to 2-1 in GSC play and 6-2 overall, while the Flames fell to 0-3 in conference play and a 2-6 record overall.
Next up for Valdosta State, it's another GSC showdown against the Hawks of Shorter on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. As always, live coverage will be provided right here at www.vstateblazers.com.
