VALDOSTA, Ga. – In yet another overtime contest for the Valdosta State men's basketball team at The Complex on Monday night, the Blazers dropped a gut-wrenching 80-78 Gulf South Conference loss to West Alabama after Chris Bilbo's buzzer beater attempt rattled the rim and popped out as time expired.
 
Saturday's loss marked the sixth overtime game for the Blazers on the year, with four of those contests resulting in losses for Valdosta State. Furthermore, the Blazers have lost four of their five games by six points or fewer.
 
West Alabama's win boosted the Tigers to 9-7 overall on the year and 5-5 in league action, while the Blazers fell to 10-5 overall, 6-4 in GSC play, despite having four players score 15 points or more in the contest.
 
The Blazers overcame West Alabama's 13-of-26, 50.0 percent first-half shooting effort with a strong finish during the final five minutes of the first period. Trailing 26-19, Justin Simon scored a bucket on a put back tip-in that sparked a 17-5 run and allowed Valdosta State a 36-31 advantage at the break.
 
VSU continued to control the contest throughout the early minutes of the second half with a consistent attack that included a three-point bucket from Blake Justice at the 16:02 mark. The long range shot gave the Blazers their biggest advantage of the night at 48-37, but the Tigers retaliated less than 30 seconds later with Acie Vance's only three ball of the night.
 
West Alabama continuously chipped away at the lead over the course of the next nine minutes, but the Blazers held the Tigers at bay until a pair of Jahmal Lane free throws put UWA back in front at 61-60 with 7:22 to go in regulation.
 
The remainder of regulation consisted of lead changes that led up to a 70-70 tie, after Josh Lemons' three pointer at 1:51 was answered by a Deontaye Ewing layup with 1:29 to go.
 
Lemons connected on two additional triples in the overtime period to help the Blazers overcome a five-point deficit and put the Blazers in front 76-75, but a resilient West Alabama team responded yet again to take the lead on a Dennis Simeon three pointer. Justice delivered a game-tying shot from close range with less than a minute to play, and the Blazer defense held on the next possession. Lemons' attempt at the game winner came up short with less than 10 seconds to play, however, and UWA pushed the ball in transition for a game-winning layup by Ewing, who led the Tigers with 16 points on the night.
 
The Blazers shot 48.1 percent (26-of-54) in the game, and saw an improvement from three point range over recent games with a 9-of-22, 40.9 percent shooting display. UWA's edged out the Blazers, however, with a 51.7 percent night from the field.
 
Bilbo led the Blazers with 18 points on offense, while Saadiq Muhammad added 17. Justice and Lemons added 16 and 15, respectively.
 
Valdosta State will aim to return to form on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. at The Complex against the Argonauts of West Florida.