LIVINGSTON, Ala. – A 21-3 run to start the second half sparked the No. 22 Valdosta State men's basketball team to a 79-69 win at West Alabama Saturday afternoon. With the win, VSU improved to 10-3 on the year and 4-2 in Gulf South Conference play, while West Alabama fell to 10-3 overall and 3-2 in league play. VSU senior
Clay Guillozet eclipsed 1,000 points and 500 rebounds for his Blazer career in the game.
The Blazers were led by a game-high 19 points from senior
Darrell Jones as he was 7 of 12 from the field with a triple, four free throws and seven rebounds leading four Blazer starters in double figures. Junior
Burke Putnam added 12 points, while sophomore
Imoras Agee and senior
Bryce Smith each had 10 points. VSU shot 47.9 percent for the game on 23 of 48, while going 4 of 16 from beyond the arc and 19 of 30 from the line.
UWA was led by 17 points from Darron Johnson as he was 6 of 14 from the field with three triples. Ricky Dunnaway added 14 points, while Mike Davis had a double-double off the bench with 10 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. The Tigers shot 36.2 percent from the field on 21 of 58, while also struggling from beyond the arc, going 3 of 17, but were 14 of 16 from the line.
Guillozet scored eight points to give him 1,002 for his VSU career and he also eclipsed 500 career rebounds with ten on Saturday, as he now has 506 for his career. He is the 24
th Blazer all-time to achieve 1,000 career points.
After a slow start and trailing 18-10 with 10:48 left in the first half, VSU rallied for a 22-12 run to close the half and a 32-30 lead at intermission. During the spurt, VSU used an 8-0 run to tie the game at 26 with three minutes remaining in the half. A free throw from senior
Tyler Edwards with 1:03 left in the half gave VSU its first lead since 2-0, and Guillozet and Jones each hit jumpers for the 32-30 lead at halftime.
Dunnaway made one of two free throws to open the second half, but Smith sparked the big spurt for the Blazers with a triple at the other end. Dunnaway then hit a jumper, pulling the Tigers within 39-33 with 17 minutes left as the Blazers then exploded with a 14-0 run for the 53-33 lead with 11:58 remaining.
UWA's Mike Davis cut the deficit to 57-49 with a layup with 6:12 left, but the Blazers quickly pushed the lead to 14 with a 6-0 run capped with a layup from Jones with 4:18 remaining. The teams traded scores the rest of the way as UWA never got the deficit under double-digits the rest of the game.
VSU returns home to host Mississippi College Thursday at 8 p.m. at The Complex and then will host Delta State next Saturday at 4 p.m. at The Complex.
