JACKSON, Tenn. - The Blazers of Valdosta State men's basketball wrapped up a successful road trip on Saturday with a dominant 96-72 rout of the Union Bulldogs in Gulf South Conference action on Saturday evening in Jackson, Tenn.
The Blazers fell behind early and trailed 5-0 at the 17:20 mark before Justin Simon completed a three-point play for VSU's first points of the game. The buckets for Simon sparked a eight-plus minute span, in which Valdosta State outscored the Bulldogs 32-9 to take a 32-14 lead.
Valdosta State never looked back from that point forward and extended their lead to as many as 35 points late in the second half. A short run by Union during the closing minutes of the contest pulled the Bulldogs to within 24 before the final buzzer sounded.
Head Coach Mike Helfer saw six of his players reach double-digit figures in the game, with Saadiq Muhammad leading the charge. The senior forward used a series of strong moves in the paint to score a game-high 20 points in the game on 8-of-13 shooting, and Jeremiah Hill complemented the offensive effort with 18 points of his own (5-of-9).
Along with a 58.6 percent shooting display from the field, the Blazers also racked up 23 points at the free-throw line on a 23-of-25 performance for 92.0 percent. In addition, nine different Blazers contributed to 39 rebounds in the game against just 27 for UU.
With the win, Valdosta State improved to 7-2 overall and bumped their GSC record up to 2-1. Union fell to 6-4 overall and dropped to 1-3 against conference opponents.
Next up for VSU, it's a New Year's Eve showdown against the rival Lions of North Alabama. Tip time is slated for 3:00 p.m. on December 31st, with full coverage available right here at www.vstateblazers.com.
