CARROLLTON, Ga. – Behind 19 points each from seniors Beau Justice and Winston Morgan, the Valdosta State Blazers erased an 11-point first half deficit en route to a thrilling 91-80 victory at West Georgia Thursday evening.  VSU had five players in double figures led by 23 points from Morgan, 22 from Justice and a double-double from junior Clay Guillozet.
 
VSU (17-5, 10-4 GSC) outscored UWG (12-10, 7-7 GSC) 62-44 in the second half and shot 51.4 percent for the final stanza on 19 of 37, while draining nine triples and making 15 of 17 free throws.  UWG's Marquill Smith had 32 points and 12 rebounds for the game to lead UWG, while Gerald Blount added 17 points and Deng Nihal chipped in 11.
 
The Blazers started the game sluggish shooting just 28.2 percent for the first half on 11 of 39, but caught fire and led by as many as 15 late in the game.  VSU went to the free throw line just twice in the first half and made just five triples in the first stanza before the explosion in the second half.
 
Trailing 36-29 at intermission, Justice, who had just three points at halftime on 1 of 5 from the field, doubled his output with his second trey of the game for a 36-32 deficit with 19 minutes remaining as VSU then pulled within three on a pair of Morgan free throws at 43-40 with 17:20 left. 
 
Justice then drained another triple pulling VSU within one at 48-47 with 14:16 remaining, but the Wolves had the answer at the other end.  Junior Darrell Jones tied the game at 50 with a triple and Morgan gave VSU its first lead of the half at 53-52 with a triple with 12:58 remaining. 
 
The Wolves regained the lead and led by four with 8:07 left on a jumper from Smith for a 64-60 lead, but a tip-in from junior Bryce Smith tied the game once again at 66 with 6:07 remaining, starting a commanding 8-0 run as the Blazers extended the lead to 15 points on two charity tosses from senior Desmond DeRamus with 2:22 left.  From the 6:07 mark to the 2:22 mark, VSU outscored UWG 20-3.
 
A triple from M. Smith and a layup from Nihal pulled UWG within eight with 59 seconds left, but VSU made its free throws down the stretch for the 91-80 win to even the season series as both teams won on their opponent's floor. 
 
In the first half, VSU responded to an early 3-0 with three-straight triples leading to a 13-2 run for a 13-5 lead with 15:39 left in the half.  VSU built the lead to 12 at 23-11 with 12:28 left, only to see UWG roar back with a 23-0 run for a 34-23 lead with 4:19 remaining.  VSU cut the deficit back to five on a layup from senior Greg Zuppas at 34-29, but M. Smith answered with a layup for the final scoring of the half at 36-29.  M. Smith finished the half with 11 points and seven rebounds, while no Blazer was in double figures.
 
Along with Justice, Morgan and Guillozet, DeRamus added 10 points and B. Smith added 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench.  VSU held a 44-40 lead in rebounding and a 17-11 on the offensive end, leading to a 21-14 advantage in second chance points.  The Blazers forced 16 UWG miscues leading to an 18-11 lead in points off turnovers. 
 
VSU returns to action on Saturday at 4 p.m. at Shorter as the game will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ with Spencer Van Horn having the call.  Check back with vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball page for links to live stats and streaming.