MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team's woes continued on Saturday afternoon in Memphis, Tenn., after the team dropped a 91-87 hard fought battle to the Christian Brothers Bucs in Gulf South Conference play at Canale Arena.
 
The Blazers trailed by 16 points early in the second half, before Lester Moore connected from deep in the corner for the first of six straight three pointers for VSU. The plethora of successful shots from beyond the arc represented the first six field goals of the second half for Valdosta State and consisted of two by Shaun Jones, two by Jeff Nibo, one by Jay Watkins, and the aforementioned trey by Moore.
 
Valdosta State closed the deficit to five points at 55-50 with 14:20 to play in the second half and twice to three points during the final 20 seconds of the game on big three point shots by Jeremiah Hill and Jacob Obande, but Christian Brothers survived the Blazers' threat with a couple of key free throws by Jeff Larkin during the closing moments of the contest.
 
CBU's three-man combo of Larkin, Trey Casey, and big man Sidy Sall proved to be the difference for the Bucs, as the trio teamed up for 65 of Christian Brothers' 91 point total in the contest. Casey connected for 20 points in the game on 6-of-15 shooting, while Sall led the team with 23 points on a 10-of-15 effort. Larkin hit six of 11 attempts for a 22 point total
 
For the Blazers, five players reached double digit figures in the scoring column. Senior James Spencer racked up 13 points, Jones added 11, Watkins accounted for a team high 15 points, Nibo hit 3-of-5 with two three pointers from the field en route to a 10 point effort, while Hill capped off the well-rounded offensive effort by the red and black with 12 points on the night.

Valdosta State shot the lights out from long range with a 53.8 shooting percentage from three point range. VSU hit 14 threes in 26 attempts, with three different players accounting for three or more three point shots. The shooting display marked the highest number of three pointers in a single game for the Blazers all season long.

The loss marked the seventh straight for Valdosta State and bumped the Blazers to 9-16 overall and 4-15 in GSC play. The Bucs, who recently clinched a spot in the GSC tournament and are shooting for a strong seeding, improved their record to 14-9 overall, 10-8 in conference play.

Only home games remain for the Blazers in 2014-15, beginning with a Thursday night matchup at 8:00 p.m. in The Complex against the visiting Tigers of West Alabama.