VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team wrapped up a two-game road trip with an authoritative 97-77 Gulf South Conference win over the Hawks of Shorter on Saturday at Winthrop-King Centre in Rome, Ga.
With the victory, the Blazers improved to 7-2 overall and 3-1 in league play, while the Hawks evened up their overall record at 4-4 and fell to 0-3 against GSC opponents.
Valdosta State took an early 17-10 lead in the opening minutes of the contest, but the Hawks reclaimed the lead at the 13:15 mark after scoring eight consecutive unanswered points. The Blazers quickly regained composure and went on a 15-0 tear to open up a 32-18 lead less than four minutes later.
The Blazers dominated the boards and posted a stellar 61.3 percent first half shooting effort to keep the lead intact throughout the remainder of the first half, and the second half was more of the same, as Valdosta State connected on 18-of-31 shots after the halftime break to gradually expand their lead.
Shorter's Phil Taylor, who came into the game representing the league's top scorer with an average of 29.1 points per game, led the Hawks with 25 points The Blazer defense limited the guard's long range damage, however, holding the junior to just one three pointer on seven attempts.
Leading contributors for the Blazers were
Blake Justice and
Jeremiah Hill, who finished with 25 and 24 points, respectively. Justice shot 8-of-11 from the field and connected on 4-of-7 shots from three point range, while Hill hit 11 field goals on 18 attempts.
The Blazers' commanding second half, in which the Blazers outscored the Hawks 46-35, included just five team turnovers, and VSU outrebounded the Hawks 44-25.
Justin Simon led VSU's rebounding effort with nine, while Justice added eight and
Saadiq Muhammad pulled down seven rebounds.
Valdosta State returns to action next Thursday in Valdosta, Ga. to host the second place Delta State Statesmen, with tip time scheduled for 8:00 p.m. at The Complex.
