BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The top-seeded Valdosta State men's basketball team dropped a 70-69 heartbreaker to No. 5-seed Delta State in the Gulf South Conference semifinal Saturday afternoon in the closing seconds of the contest.  DSU's Cedric Harper hit a jumper with seven seconds left for the winner. 
 
The Blazers' bid for their first conference tournament championship came to an end and now will await a potential at large berth in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship South Regional.  VSU entered the week fourth in the latest NCAA South Region rankings.  The NCAA Championship bracket will be unveiled Sunday evening at 10:30 p.m. ET on NCAA.com.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for a link to the selection show. 
 
In a rematch of last year's semifinal, DSU handed VSU its second-straight loss in the conference tournament as the Statesmen won last year 63-59.  The Blazers fell to 26-4 this season, while Delta State improved to 18-11.  The loss snapped VSU's season-best ten game winning streak.
 
Despite the loss, the Blazers have had their best three-year run in program history as head coach Mike Helfer is 76-17 with at least a share of three regular season conference titles in the last three seasons and two trips to the NCAA Tournament so far.  The previous best three-year stretch was a 74-23 record by former head coach Gary Colson from 1966-68. 
 
VSU trailed 68-63 with 2:02 left, but a layup from junior Bryce Smith started a 6-0 run for a 69-68 lead with 17 seconds left.  Harper hit a layup with eight seconds left for a 70-69 lead and then tallied his fourth block of the game with three seconds remaining as VSU got the offensive rebound.  Senior Beau Justice's jumper missed at the buzzer.
 
The Blazers struggled from beyond the arc on Saturday, going just 4 of 18 from beyond the arc and were 21 of 56 from the field (.467), while going 23 of 28 from the line.  Justice tallied a team-high 17 points on 4 of 13 from the field and 9 of 10 from the line.  Junior Clay Guillozet added 15 points on 6 of 12 from the field with one triple and two free throws.  Senior Greg Zuppas added 14 points. 
 
Delta State was led by a game-high 28 points from Matthew Wilson on 11 of 19 from the field as he drained six of the Statesmen seven triples.  Rasheide Bell added 16 points and Harper had 12 points.  DSU was 28 of 54 from the field for 51.9 percent, while going 7 of 15 from beyond the arc and 7 of 11 from the line.
 
The game saw VSU leading by as many as 12 early in the game and DSU tallied its first lead of the game on a triple from Wilson with 3:49 left in the contest.
 
The Blazers came out of the gates on fire as they raced out to a 14-2 lead capped with a triple from Zuppas with 15:13 left in the first half.  DSU's Brett Warner hit a triple for a 28-27 VSU lead with 7:31 left in the half, a triple from senior Tyler Johnson and a layup from Smith pushed the VSU advantage back to six at 33-27 with 6:50 left.
 
Wilson buried a triple as DSU came within one at 37-36 with 3:29 left, but free throws from senior Winston Morgan and senior Desmond DeRamus pushed the lead back to three on two occasions late in the half.  Each time, Bell had the answer as VSU led 41-40 at intermission.
 
The teams basically traded buckets through much of the second half with the Blazers keeping no more than a three point lead through the first 15 minutes.  Justice hit two free throws for a 60-57 lead with 5:57 left.  Harper tied the game at 61 with 4:49 remaining, before Wilson buried his triple for DSU's first lead of the game. 
 
Guillozet hit VSU's last field goal of the game with 1:09 left for a 68-67 deficit and hit two more for the Blazers' final lead at 69-68 with 17 seconds left.