VALDOSTA, Ga. – An impressive victory over Shorter, combined with a surprising loss elsewhere for the Alabama-Huntsville Chargers, allowed the Valdosta State men's basketball team to claim the title of 2017 Gulf South Conference Regular Season champs on Thursday night in Valdosta, Ga.
 
In front of another rowdy crowd at The Complex, the Blazers survived a record-setting night by the league's leading scorer, Phil Taylor, with a career-high effort from senior guard Jeremiah Hill. Hill poured in seven three pointers in the game, six of which came in the first half. The hot hand led the Savannah, Ga. native to a progressively confident performance on offense that included a 12-of-20 shooting display from the field and a 5-of-8 effort from the stripe. Hill's 36-point night narrowly topped his previous 35-point career high, achieved just three weeks ago against Mississippi College. Furthermore,  Hill crept to within 10 of his 1,000^th career point as a three-year Blazer.
 
Valdosta State used a pair of threes by Beau Justice and Hill within the first two minutes of the game to jump out to a 6-2 start, and the Blazers never looked back from there. The Blazers scored 19 points in the first five minutes of the game and used a 53.1 percent (17-of-32) shooting performance from the field and a 47.4 percent (9-of-19) shooting effort from beyond the arc to open up a 56-44 advantage at intermission.
 
In the second half, the Blazers allowed 32 second half points by Taylor, but countered with a 64.5 percent shooting display (20-of-31), which kept Valdosta State in front by 10-plus points throughout the entirety of the second half.
 
Taylor finished with 53 points, the most ever scored by a single player in a matchup of two Gulf South Conference teams. In addition, the senior shot 26 free throws and connected on all 26, which also set a new GSC mark in both categories.
 
Saadiq Muhammad joined Hill for 21 points on the night, which marked his highest single game point total since his 26-point performance against Southeastern on November 21, 2016. The senior took ten shots and hit seven, which lifted his league-leading field goal shooting percentage to 61.6 percent.
 
The win represented Valdosta State's fifth in a row and the Blazers' 14^th win in 15 games. The team improved to 23-4 overall and 17-3 in GSC play. Meanwhile, the Hawks fell to 17-10 overall and 11-10 against league opponents.
 
Valdosta State will celebrate Senior Day at The Complex on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. against the visiting Flames of Lee University. In addition, both the Blazers and the Lady Blazers will host the first round of the GSC Tournament at The Complex in Valdosta, Ga. with games at both 6:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on February 28^th. For ticket information, call the Blazer Athletics Ticket Office at 229-333-SEAT.