CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The "Cardiac Kids" of Valdosta State men's basketball prevailed for their third straight Gulf South Conference victory with their latest overtime win, a 93-82 road triumph over the Lee Flames on Tuesday night in Cleveland, Tenn.

The contest featured 10 ties and seven lead changes, but Lee held the advantage for over 30 of the 40 minutes of regulation throughout the first and second halves. Valdosta State remained resilient, however, and hung around long enough to keep the game close as the final minutes ticked away in the second half.

With 2:02 remaining Lee's Levi Wood buried a long three pointer to put the Flames up 76-69. The shot looked like a potential dagger in the heart of the Blazers, but Winston Morgan altered the narrative with a clutch three ball 30 seconds later to pull VSU back to within four.

Valdosta State's defense stepped up on the ensuing possession and forced a Bryce Copeland turnover, which allowed Morgan a chance to draw a foul inside the one minute mark. Morgan converted on both free throws to narrow the deficit to 76-74, and yet another defensive stop by the Blazers set the stage for a potential game-tying shot. With 7.2 seconds on the clock, Beau Justice drove the lane to draw in the Lee defenders before dishing off to KJ James for an easy layup from point blank range.

James' game-saving bucket forced an overtime period for the second time in three games, and the Blazers used the extra minutes to outscore the Flames 17-6 and run away with the gutsy win.

Beau Justice served as the top offensive performer for Valdosta State and produced the highest point total of his career against a GSC opponent with 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field and a 3-of-4 effort from the three point line. The only time Justice scored more points in a single game was in a non-conferene game against Lynn on November 26, 2016.

Clay Guillozet complemented Justice's performance with a career-best 24 points on 10-of-17 shooting and a 4-of-4 performance from the free throw line. Each of Guillozet's free throws were critical shots down the stretch, and six of the Ohio native's overall point total represented the first points scored by either team during the overtime period. Guillozet performed particularly well after the half with 10 points in the second half and 10 points in overtime, as Head Coach Mike Helfer continuously called on his West Liberty transfer while Lee struggled to solve the 6'4" guard.

"I've been watching Clay for a while, and he has the ability to score around the rim in traffic, even at 6'3". It's crazy to say that, but he just has a great feel for the rim, and so we just went to him," said Helfer after the win. "I'm not dumb anymore," Helfer added with a smile. "If something's working, we're going to go right back to it until the other team figures out a way to stop it. Lee wasn't able to stop Clay tonight."

In addition to his strong offensive numbers, Guillozet also added seven rebounds, three assists, and five steals, which added up to produce a balanced effort that came at a time when VSU needed it most.

"Any time we can get a win, that's obviously the most important thing to us as a team," said Guillozet. "The guys were believing in me, and I was believing in them, and I think it showed a lot of character for our team the way we came back at the end after being down for most of the night. I love the game of basketball and I'm so glad to be out here playing with my best friends who have been grinding to get better ever since school started. We had some fun out there tonight."

With the victory, the Blazers improved to 10-2 overall and 3-1 against league opponents, while the Flames dropped to 8-4 on the year and fell to 3-2 in GSC play.

Valdosta State returns to the court on Thursday at 8:00 p.m. to face Shorter for another GSC matchup in Rome, Ga. Full coverage will be available, as always, at www.vstateblazers.com.