VALDOSTA, Ga. – Overtime games have plagued the Blazers this season, but the Valdosta State men's basketball team exorcised those demons with a huge 93-89 overtime victory over West Georgia on the hardwood at The Complex in Valdosta, Ga. on Saturday.
 
West Georgia opened up with a blistering attack over the course of the first ten minutes that resulted in a 26-17 deficit for Head Coach Mike Helfer's squad. The Blazers weathered the storm, however, and slowly chipped away at the lead with an 18-8 run over a seven minute stretch that led to VSU's first lead of the night at the 2:03 mark. Justin Simon came up with an offensive rebound and put back to put the Blazers in front 35-34, and Valdosta State extended that advantage to 43-38 before the halftime, thanks to four more points from Simon, along with buckets by Blake Justice and Saadiq Muhammad.
 
"When this game started, they came right at us full force, and I give our guys a lot of credit for taking that initial punch and bouncing back to get back in the game," said Helfer following the win. "I was proud of our guys in what was a great college basketball game tonight."
 
The Blazers increased their lead to as many as nine points early in the second half, but UWG got a three pointer and a layup on back-to-back possessions from Keron Briggs and added a free throw from Jovany Austin to pull back within three at the 15:55 mark.
 
The game remained tight throughout the remainder of the second half, setting the stage for four lead changes in the final two minutes of the game. The Blazers trailed by one at 78-77 with just 19 seconds remaining in regulation, before Josh Lemons dropped in a layup for two of his 12 points in the contest. The shot put VSU in front with six seconds to play, but West Georgia was able to tie the game up at 79-79 with one second on the clock after Steph Branch was fouled and hit the second of two free throws to send the game to overtime.
 
In the overtime period, Briggs struck again just nine seconds into the frame with a close shot to give UWG an 81-79 advantage. The Blazers answered quickly with a jump shot from Justice, who posted 14 points on the night and represented one of six VSU players to finish with double-digits in the scoring column. The two teams traded the lead two more times before Chris Longoria came up with a three-point play at the 2:22 mark after drawing a foul on a successful layup from the right side. The play was one of the most influential of the night, and it gave the red and black a two-point advantage that they would never relinquish. The victory marked the second win out of five overtime games thus far in 2015-16.
 
Longoria finished the contest with 15 points and eight rebounds, while Simon posted a monstrous double-double effort that consisted of 21 points and 15 rebounds. The Blazers won the rebounding game as a team with 55 total rebounds and 20 offensive boards, eight of which belonged to Simon.
 
"Some kids are natural rebounders, and [Simon] has it in him," added Helfer. "He's got the toughness, the size, the strength, and the ability to know where the ball is going, and I thought he played really, really well tonight. I'm very proud of him."
 
The victory keeps Valdosta State within striking distance of the league's top spot, as they improved to 10-4 overall and 6-3 in GSC play. With the win, VSU trails Alabama-Huntsville and Delta State at the top position by just one game. The loss for West Georgia marks only their third league loss of the season and drops the team into a tie with VSU and North Alabama in second place. Overall, the Wolves now stand at 9-5 on the season.
 
Valdosta State will get a short break before the team returns to action on Monday night to host West Alabama at 8:00 p.m. in Valdosta, Ga.