MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Valdosta State Blazers trailed for most of the second half, but took the lead when they needed to in order to claim a massive 72-70 Gulf South Conference win over the Christian Brothers Bucs on Saturday night in Memphis, Tenn.

Although the Blazers trailed for most of the second half, Valdosta State pulled to within one point nine different times in the period. A layup by Beau Justice at the 1:58 mark trimmed CBU's lead to 70-69, and each team held the other scoreless during the next two possessions with a series of key defensive stops.

Valdosta State held possession with less than one minute remaining, and Greg Zuppas narrowly missed a well contested layup from the left side. Zuppas corralled in his own rebound, however, and managed to call time out as he fell toward the sideline to keep the ball in VSU's hands. Following the timeout, Winston Morgan missed a three, but Justice hauled in the offensive board to give Valdosta State yet another scoring opportunity. This time, the Blazers wouldn't miss, as Morgan made the adjustment for his only three of the game, a go-ahead bucket from the left corner on VSU's final possession, which gave VSU a two point edge and proved to be the deciding basket.

Prior to the shot, Morgan was an uncharacteristic 0-of-5 from the three point line. The sharp shooter credited his teammates, however, for giving him the mental edge he needed to fire up the game-winner during the final 30 seconds.

"It's a brotherhood with this team, man," said Morgan after the win. "It makes it easy on me to know that when I'm having a rough night, my teammates still have confidence that I can hit the shot when I need to. Any one of us can step up and make a play at any time. We don't care who does it, and we don't care how we do it. We just want to win."

KJ James poured in 15 points and racked up 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the week and his third of the season. Meanwhile, Justice hit the 20-point mark again with an 8-of-17 shooting effort from the field and a 4-of-7 performance from the three point line. The point total represented Justice's ninth game of the season in which the junior has scored 20 or more points in a single game. Jimmy Kodet also added 11 points, including two huge three pointers in the second half that helped keep the Blazers within striking distance.

With the Gulf South Conference win, the Blazers extended their winning streak to seven and improved their overall record to 14-2. Valdosta State improved to 7-1 in conference play to remain tied with West Florida for first place in the GSC. Christian Brothers, who entered the game with the same overall record as Valdosta State, fell to 13-3 on the year and dropped to 5-3 in league play.

The Blazers will return to action on Monday in a GSC road matchup against the Union Bulldogs. Tip is set for 7:00 p.m. EST, and live coverage will be provided right here at www.vstateblazers.com.