PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team connected nine times from the three point line on 11 attempts in the second half to run away with a 100-76 win over the Albany State Golden Rams in south region NCAA basketball action at the SIAC/GSC Crossover on Sunday afternoon in Pensacola, Fla.
Jimmy Kodet constructed a breakout offensive effort with a career-high 18 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor and a 4-of-6 performance from three-point range. Meanwhile,
Beau Justice delivered his second straight 20-plus point effort with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting and a 5-of-7 effort from long distance.
The sharpshooting display of the Blazer offense wasn't just limited to the second half, as Valdosta State connected on 16-of-28 from long distance over the course of the entire game for a 57.1 percent three-point shooting effort. The percentage marked the highest for the program since February 18, 2016, when former Blazer Jeremiah Hill connected on a school record 11 threes in Livingston, Ala. Newcomers
Winston Morgan and
Tyrone Sam rounded out the long distance assault with four and three treys, respectively.
Valdosta State's offense produced a balanced attack, with six different players reaching double-digit figures in the scoring column.
KJ James and
Clay Guillozet were among those six, and both finished just shy of a double-double with nine rebounds each.
With the victory, the Blazers improved to 2-0 on the young season, while the Golden Rams fell to 0-2. As representatives of the Gulf South Conference in the weekend crossover, both West Florida and VSU were a perfect 3-0 against Fort Valley State and Albany State heading into the final matchup between West Florida and FVSU later on Sunday afternoon.
The Blazers will carry their perfect start to Alabama next weekend for a non-conference matchup against the Tuskegee Tigers on Saturday, November 18
th. The road contest will mark the last game before the Blazers host Coastal Georgia on November 21
st for the 2017-18 home opener at The Complex.
