VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team closes the 2018-19 regular season road schedule at West Florida and at West Alabama this week.  The Blazers have won six-straight games and are 20-5 overall and 13-4 in Gulf South Conference play.
 
The Blazers head to Pensacola, Fla., for an 8:30 p.m. ET tip Thursday against West Florida and then will travel to Livingston, Ala., for a 5 p.m. ET tip Saturday at league-leader West Alabama.  UWA has won 11-straight games and is 20-5 overall and 15-3 in league play.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page.  The games will be broadcast on 92.1 FM, with Spencer Van Horn having the call of the games.  
 
VSU moved back into the NABC Top 25 for the first time since December at No. 22 this week.  Northwest Missouri State leads the poll at 25-0, followed by Indiana (Pa.), Nova Southeastern, West Texas A&M and St. Edward's (Texas) rounds out the top five.  Behind Nova Southeastern, Lynn is 14^th, followed by Morehouse at 21^st, VSU 22^ndand Florida Southern is 23^rdfor teams in the South Region.  West Alabama is among others receiving votes at 27^th.  
 
Heading into the week, VSU has a half game lead over Christian Brothers and the tiebreaker with the Bucs for second place in the league standings.  VSU trails UWA by a game-and-a-half and leads Alabama Huntsville by a game and has the tiebreaker on the Chargers as well.  The Blazers have clinched a spot in the upcoming Gulf South Conference Championship and, with one win in the last three games, would clinch a home game for the quarterfinal round of the championship on Mar. 5.  
 
The initial NCAA Region Rankings are scheduled to be released Wednesday afternoon, check back with vstateblazers.com for a release on the rankings after they are announced.  The NCAA Championship begins Mar. 16 with the South Regional at the top-seeded team in the final region rankings, announced on the NCAA Selection Show on Mar. 10.  The 2019 NCAA Division II Elite Eight is set for Mar. 27-30 in Evansville, Ind.  
 
VSU needs to win its remaining three games and UWA lose its final two games to win the GSC regular season title outright, or VSU wins its last three and UWA splits its final two to share the league title.  In that scenario, with UWA splitting its final two games, VSU would be the top-seed in the conference tournament by virtue of its sweep of UWA.  VSU closes the 2018-19 regular season Feb. 28 at 8 p.m., at The Complex versus Auburn Montgomery.  
 
The Blazers are coming off two wins last weekend at home versus Mississippi College and Delta State. VSU tallied its sixth game of scoring 100 or more points in the 106-90 win on Thursday and followed with a 90-74 victory Saturday against Delta State.  VSU won its 20^thgame of the season for the third-straight year with the win over Delta State and 14^thin program history dating back to 1955. VSU won 26 games, marking the most in school history, each of the past two seasons.  
 
Senior Beau Justice averaged 27.0 points for the week on a blistering 17 of 25 from the field (.680), while going 6 of 11 from downtown and a perfect 14 of 14 from the line.  He had nine assists and just one turnover for the week.  Senior Winston Morgan averaged 20.5 points and drained 13 of 23 triples (.565) and went 14 of 27 from the field for the week (.519).  In all six players averaged double figures for the Blazers for the week as VSU shot .578 from the field on 67 of 116, while going 29 of 55 (.527) from beyond the arc and 33 of 38 (.868) from the line.  VSU averaged 32 rebounds per game with 44 assists, 19 turnovers, seven blocks and 10 steals, while averaging 98 points per game.  
 
The opposition shot .478 from the field on 65 of 136, while going 16 of 37 from beyond the arc (.432) and 18 of 29 from the line (.621).  The opponents averaged 33 rebounds per game, while recording 33 assists, 22 turnovers, one block and seven steals, while averaging 82 points per game. 
 
West Florida enters the week with an 11-15 record overall and a 7-11 mark in conference play.  The Argos have mathematically been eliminated from the conference tournament and are coming off a 77-71 home loss to Mississippi College on Saturday.  Thursday's matchup with the Blazers marks Senior Night for the Argos.  
 
UWF is averaging 70.1 points per game and allowing 69.0 per contest this season.  UWF is shooting .433 from the field on 635 of 1465, while the opponents are shooting .453 from the field on 664 of 1465.  The Argos have drained 163 triples for a .359 average and are shooting .737 from the line on 390 of 529.  UWF is averaging 32.9 rebounds per game and allowing 34.3.
 
Individually, Jon Brown leads the team averaging 14.7 points per game.  He is 123 of 276 from the field (.446) with 26 triples for third on the team and a .366 clip.  Brown leads the team in free throw shooting on 109 of 135 (.807) and is averaging 5.4 rebounds per game for third on the team.  Brown has 46 assists, 34 steals and seven blocks on the year.  
 
Along with Brown, Rashaan Benson is second in scoring at 12.7 points per game and leads the Argos in triples with 41.  He is 109 of 303 from the field (.360) and 70 of 89 from the line (.787).  Benson leads the team with 96 assists and has a team-high 39 steals on the year.  Maxwell Benoit (11.5) and Jarret Henderson (11.4) also average double figures, while Henderson is second in field goal shooting at a .524 clip on 109 of 208.  
 
In the first meeting between the two teams this season, VSU had four players in double figures and used a double-double from junior Bryce Smith on 15 points and 10 rebounds for a 77-58 win on Jan. 3.  Justice had 21 points and eight rebounds as VSU shot 47.7 percent from the field on 31 of 65.  VSU went 8 of 23 from range and 7 of 12 from the line, while holding a 47-35 lead in rebounding.  The Blazers held the Argos to 33.3 percent shooting on 22 of 66, while UWF was 5 of 18 from beyond the arc and 9 of 13 from the line.  Benson paced the team with 20 points, while Henri Ventoniemi had a double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds. 
 
West Alabama enters as the hottest team in the Gulf South Conference as it has won 11-straight games, dating back to a 93-88 loss in overtime at home to Christian Brothers on Jan. 10.  The 11 wins The Tigers are 20-5 overall and 15-3 in conference play.  UWA is 11-2 at home this season as the CBU loss, along with a 60-49 setback on Dec. 17 to West Georgia are the only home losses for the Tigers this season as they have won six-straight at home.  
 
The Tigers are averaging 69.6 points per game and allowing 64.9 points this season.  UWA is shooting at a .448 clip on 612 of 1365, while the opposition is at a .419 average on 573 of 1367.  UWA is 193 of 527 from beyond the arc (.366) and 324 of 486 from the line (.667).  The Tigers are averaging 35.9 rebounds per game and allowing 32.2 per contest.  Josh Fleming leads the team averaging 13.5 points per game as he is 113 of 273 from the field (.414) and 49 of 128 (.328) from beyond the arc.  LaJuan Hardy is second in scoring at 13.2 points per game and is 105 of 245 from the field (.429), while going 47 of 112 from beyond the arc.  He is a team-best 73 of 107 from the line (.682), while leading the team with 135 assists and 41 steals.  
 
In the first meeting with UWA, VSU trailed by as many as 19 late the first half and outscored the Tigers 57-36 in the second half, shooting 19 of 31 from the field in the final stanza with seven triples and 12 of 15 free throws.  Justice drained a triple from the scorer's table at the buzzer for the 78-75 win on Jan. 5.  UWA had four players in double figures led by 19 points from Fleming, while Guillozet had 26 points and 11 rebounds for the Blazers as he almost single-handed brought the Blazers back in the second half, scoring 18 points in the final frame, prior to Justice's last second heroics.  
 
The Blazers are sixth nationally in scoring offense at 91.2 points per game, while ranking 13^thnationally in scoring margin at 13.8 as both lead the GSC.  VSU is seventh nationally and second in the league in assist/turnover ratio at 1.68, while ranking 18^thnationally in field goal percentage to lead the league at a 49.7 clip.   The Blazers are 29^thin free throw percentage at a 77.3 clip for second in the league, while ranking 25^thnationally in 3-point field goals per game (10.6) to lead the league and 20^thin 3-point field goal percentage for second in the conference (40.2). VSU is 22^ndin 3-point field goals made (264) to lead the GSC.  The Blazers are ninth in assists for second in the league (461) and are 25^thin turnovers per game at 11.0 for second in the league.  
 
Individually, Morgan is 24^thnationally and second in the league in 3-point field goal attempts with 196, while ranking seventh nationally in 3-point field goals per game (3.64), 14^thin 3-point field goal percentage (.464) and sixth in total 3-point field goals made (91).  Justice leads the league in free throw percentage at a .866 for 56^thnationally, while he is 29^thnationally in total field goal attempts (379), 19^thin field goals made (192) and 18^thin total points 548.  
 
Following the games this week, VSU returns home to host Auburn Montgomery for Senior Night on Feb. 28. The Blazers will honor seven players playing in their final regular season home game that night.