VALDOSTA, Ga. – Coming off a 1-1 record in the Gulf South Conference opening weekend, the No. 9 Valdosta State men's basketball team returns to non-conference play this weekend as it travels to Lakeland, Fla., for the Terrace Hotel Thanksgiving Classic hosted by Florida Southern University.
 
The Blazers (5-1) will face Saint Leo Friday evening at 5:30 p.m., and then will face No. 18 Florida Southern Saturday at 7:30 p.m.  Fans can access links to live stats and video streaming at vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page.  
 
VSU is coming off a 79-61 win at Christian Brothers on Saturday and dropped an 84-79 decision on Monday at Union.  In the win over Christian Brothers, VSU raced out to an 8-0 lead and used another 8-0 run later in the half for a 23-8 lead with 9:44 left in the first half.  VSU led by as many as 21 late in the game as five players were in double figures, led by 17 points from senior Clay Guillozet as he had five assists and five rebounds on 7 of 10 from the field.  
 
On Monday, sophomore Cam Hamilton paced the Blazers with 19 points off the bench as he helped lead the Blazers to a pair of strong comebacks in each half.  Union drained 16 triples in the game and 12 in the second half alone as the long ball proved too much as VSU shot a season-low 41.4 percent from the field and 28.6 from beyond the arc on 8 of 28.  Guillozet and senior Darrell Jones each had double-doubles in the game.
 
Saint Leo also is 5-1 on the year, with its lone loss in the season-opener against then-No. 16 Alabama Huntsville, 56-48.  The Lions are coming off a 75-70 win in the Sunshine State opener against Florida Tech on Saturday.  Sesan Russell paced the Lions with 22 points and five steals in the win, leading three players in double figures, while Nieja Jordan had a game-high 11 rebounds, narrowly missing a double-double with eight points.
 
For the season, the Lions are averaging 71.2 points per game and allowing 55.3 points per contest.  They are shooting at a .408 clip, while holding teams to a .347 average for the season.  Saint Leo is shooting .337 from beyond the arc and .773 from the line, while holding teams to just .293 from range this season.  SLU is averaging 40.7 rebounds per game and allowing 34.3 rebounds per contest.  
 
Individually, Kyran McClure leads the team averaging 16.8 points per game on 28 of 66 from the field.  He leads the team with 18 triples in 44 attempts and is 27 of 28 from the line.  Isaiah Hill is averaging 13.5 points per game on 28 of 63 from the field.  He is 21 of 26 from the line.  Yalen Reed is averaging a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game and is third in scoring at 8.3 points per game.  
 
Florida Southern enters with a 4-1 record and a 1-1 mark in the Sunshine State Conference.  FSC dropped a 106-95 loss at Embry-Riddle last week, but won at Barry 80-74 on Saturday.  Florida Southern has wins over GSC foes Delta State (92-74) and West Alabama (76-59) this season.  The Mocs will play New Haven (Conn.) on Friday, before hosting VSU Saturday.
 
This season, FSC is averaging 87.8 points per game and allowing 78.6 points per game this season.  The Mocs are shooting at a .450 clip this season, while draining 35 of 129 from beyond the arc (.271) and are 78 of 116 from the line (.672).  The team is averaging 44.2 rebounds per game and allowing 43.4.  
 
Individually, Florida Southern has four players averaging double figures led by 21.2 points from Brett Hanson.  He is 43 of 101 from the field (.426) and 18 of 24 from the line, while averaging 8.2 rebounds for second on the team.  Hanson has a team-high 23 assists with 13 steals.  Jalyn Hinton is second in scoring at 17.8 points per game as he leads the team averaging 11.0 rebounds per game.  Hinton is 27 of 43 from the field (.643) and 17 of 22 from the line.  He has a team high 17 blocks for the season.  E.J. Dambreville is third in scoring at 13.0 points per game.  He is 24 of 60 from the field and 12 of 39 from beyond the arc to lead the team. 
 
This season, the Blazers are shooting .459 from the field on 187 of 407, while going 44 of 146 from beyond the arc (.301) and 106 of 150 from the line (.707).  VSU is averaging 41.8 rebounds per game and allowing 37.2 per contest.  The Blazers are led by Guillzoet who is averaging 16.7 points per game, leading four players in double figures.  He is 38 of 67 from the field (.567) to lead the team, while averaging 8.2 rebounds per game for second on the team. He as 22 assists for first on the team and 12 steals, also good for first on the team.  Guillozet is closing in on 1,000 career points during his time at VSU.  He has 896 for his VSU career after transferring from West Liberty before the 2017-18 season.  He scored 283 points as a freshman at West Liberty in 2016-17 for 1,179 points for his overall career.
 
Senior Bryce Smith is second in scoring for the Blazers this season at 16.5 points.  He is 36 of 68 (.529) from the field and has buried 10 triples, while going 17 of 22 from the line.  Smith has a team-high six blocks this season.  Senior Darrell Jones is third in scoring at 14.7 points per game.  He is 33 of 63 from the field (.524) and 20 of 23 from the line to lead the team.  Jones has 19 assists on the year for second on the team, while averaging 9.8 rebounds per game to lead the team.  Sophomore Imoras Agee is fourth in scoring at 10.8 points per game. 
 
Following the tournament, VSU has two weeks off before hosting Alabama Huntsville and Lee on Dec. 15 and Dec. 17, respectively at The Complex.  Tickets for the season are on sale now at the VSU Athletic Ticket Office in The Complex, or by calling 229-333-SEAT.