GSC Championship Central

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VALDOSTA, Ga. – Following its 92-76 win in the Gulf South Conference Quarterfinal on Tuesday, the top-seeded Valdosta State men's basketball team faces No. 5-seed Delta State Saturday at 6 p.m. ET in Birmingham, Ala., at the Pete Hanna Center in the second of two semifinals.
 
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming of the game on vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page.  For more information on the championship, check on the men's basketball schedule page, or the link at the top of this page, for the GSC Championship Central webpage. Mike Chason will have the call of the game on 92.1 WDDQ.  
 
The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN App.  It is accessible on computers via ESPN.com/watch and on smartphones, tablets and streaming devices through the ESPN App. The network is available nationwide at no additional cost to fans who receive their high-speed internet connection or video subscription from an affiliated service provider. It also is available at no cost to U.S. college students and U.S.-based military personnel via computers, smartphones and tablets connected to on-campus educational and on-base military broadband and Wi-Fi networks.
 
Fans will need to click on the link to Watch ESPN at the top of this page prior to the start of the game on Saturday (when the "play" icon appears on the graphic for the game) and select your cable provider. You will then be prompted to put in your username and password for your cable provider and it will then take you back to the game screen where you click on the "play" icon once again, to start the broadcast.  
 
The Blazers moved up to No. 18 in the latest NABC Top 25, while ranking 14^thin the D2SIDA Poll. In the NABC Top 25, VSU is now 18^thin the top 25.  
 
Tickets for the GSC Championships can be purchased for 25% discount by Mar. 8 for $9 instead of the regular price of $12.  Click at the link at the top of the page to purchase tickets for the championship.  General admission tickets cost $12 and are good for daily admission for the Semifinals on Saturday, March 9 or the Finals on Sunday, March 10. Student tickets (valid ID required) can only be purchased at the Pete Hanna Center box office inside the arena. Admission is free for Children 5 years and younger.

The GSC will provide $1.00 of each ticket purchased to the Neverthirst International Well Project. Additional donations can also be made inside the Pete Hanna Center or via the official online donation page.
 
The Blazers (24-5) extended their winning streak to a season-best ten games with the win on Tuesday as senior Beau Justice scored 25 points in the second half, including 17-straight to put away No. 8-seed Union.  Along with Justice, junior Bryce Smith added 12 points in the second half for 17 in the game as VSU shot over 50 percent for both halves for the win.  
 
With the win, VSU earned its third-straight trip to the semifinals and improved to 19-23 all-time in the GSC Championship.  This will be the 11^thtrip to the semifinals in program history as the Blazers have advanced to the finals five times, but has never won the conference tournament.  
 
In addition, Saturday's game will be a rematch of a semifinal game from a year ago as Delta State, also a No. 5-seed, downed top-seeded VSU, 63-59.  Junior returnee Clay Guillozet had 13 points and seven rebounds in the game, but the Blazers were unable to solve the Statesmen's top-ranked defense as VSU was held to its lowest point total of the season.  
 
This will be the third matchup of the season with the Statesmen as each team won on its home floor this season. VSU won the home meeting on Feb. 16 with a 90-74 victory, while DSU won 88-83 in Cleveland, Miss., on Jan. 12.  
 
For the two meetings this season, VSU shot 52.9 percent from the field on 63 of 119, while going 24 of 54 from beyond the arc (.444) and 23 of 30 from the line.  The Blazers average 27.5 rebounds per game, while scoring 86.5 points against the Statesmen.  
 
DSU is shooting 45.8 percent from the field against the Blazers, while going 16 of 36 from beyond the arc (.444) and 26 of 37 (.703) from the line.  The Statemen have dominated the glass, averaging 40 rebounds per game and leading 31-8 in offensive rebounds.  DSU is averaging 81.0 points in the two meetings.  
 
Justice leads four Blazers in double figures against the Statesmen at 27.5 points per game.  He is 20 of 30 from the field (.667) with six triples and 9 of 9 from the line.  Justice has 11 assists and just one turnover in the two meetings.  Senior Winston Morgan is averaging 15 points per game on 11 of 25 from the field with a team-high seven triples.  Guillozet is averaging 12 points per game on 9 of 19 from the field (.474) with four triples and leading the team in rebounding at 7.0.  
 
For the Statesmen, Justin Slocum is averaging a double-double against the Blazers this season at 17.5 points to lead the team and 11.5 rebounds.  He is 16 of 24 from the field (.667), while Rashiede Bell is averaging 16.5 points per game and 11 of 12 from the line.  Brett Warner has a team-high seven triples against the Blazers.  
 
If the Blazers were to defeat the Statesmen, VSU would advance to the GSC Championship game scheduled for Sunday at 4:30 p.m. ET against the winner of West Alabama and Alabama Huntsville. The winner of the GSC Championship will receive the league's automatic berth into the NCAA South Regional, scheduled for Mar. 16-19.  
 
Heading into the weekend, the Blazers are No. 4 in the latest NCAA South Region rankings, which were released Wednesday afternoon.  Nova Southeastern leads the third and final public ranking, followed by Florida Southern, Lynn, VSU and West Alabama flip-flopped with Eckerd for fifth. Alabama Huntsville is seventh, followed by Barry, Christian Brothers and Miles is tenth. 
 
Check back with vstateblazers.com this weekend for a link to the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Selection Show, scheduled for Sunday evening on NCAA.com.  
 
VSU went 2-0 on the year against West Alabama tied with the Tigers for the GSC regular season title, both finishing 16-4.  It was VSU's third-straight league regular season title either outright or shared. The Blazers downed Alabama Huntsville in the lone meeting with the Chargers on Dec. 17, 2018, in Huntsville, Ala., 87-72.  Against the remaining field, VSU is 4-1.  
 
For the season, the Blazers are shooting .494 from the field on 944 of 1912, while going 307 of 770 from beyond the arc (.399) and 431 of 565 from the line (.763).  VSU is averaging 38 rebounds per game and allowing 35 per contest, while scoring 90.6 points per game and allowing 76.5.
 
Justice leads the team averaging 21.7 points per game on 217 of 434 from the field for an even .500 average. He is 80 of 183 from beyond the arc (.437) and a team-best 115 of 134 (.858) from the line.  Justice has 108 assists for second on the team and 32 steals for third on the squad.  
 
Guillozet is second on the team in scoring at 13.1 points per game and leads the team in rebounding at 6.8 per game.  He is 138 of 282 (.489) from the field, while going 38 of 100 (.380) from beyond the arc and 67 of 89 from the line (.753).  He is second on the team in steals with 34.  Morgan is third in scoring at 13.0 points per game on 124 of 282 from the field (.440).  He is a team-best 99 of 224 from beyond the arc (.442) and 31 of 39 from the line (.795). Morgan is third on the team in assists with 86.  Smith is fourth in scoring at 10.5 points per game, while shooting a team-best .611 from the field on 124 of 203 and junior Darrell Jones is fifth in scoring at 10.3 points per game on 107 of 206 from the field for a .519 average.  
 
Earlier this week, the GSC All-Conference Teams were announced as Justice was a first team selection for the second year in a row, while Morgan earned second team honors for the first time. Along with Justice only UWA's LaJuan Hardy remains in the conference tournament among first team selections. Morgan, along with UAH's JJ Kaplan and Sam Orf and Delta State's Brett Warner remain as second team honorees.