VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 18-ranked Valdosta State men's basketball team returns home with a Gulf South Conference-best nine-game winning streak to host Shorter on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. at The Complex and West Georgia on Saturday at 4 p.m.  
 
Fans can access links to live stats and audio/video streaming links of the games at vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page.  The games also will be broadcast on 92.1 WDDQ FM with Mike Chason having the call of the games.  
 
VSU (16-3, 10-2 GSC) is coming off a hard-fought 68-62 win at Montevallo for its league-best ninth win in a row.  The nine wins is tied for the 10^th-longest current streak in NCAA Division II.  Lincoln Memorial leads the nation with 21-straight wins as it dropped its season-opener and has won 21 games in a row since.  
 
The Blazers were led by 17 points from senior Bryce Smith in the game, while senior Clay Gillozet had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds for the game and senior Darrell Jones added 13 points and eight rebounds.  
 
In a back-and-forth game, Jones put VSU up 64-60 with 51 seconds left and added two free throws with 28 seconds remaining for a 66-62 lead.  The Blazers held off three looks by UM in the final 22 seconds and VSU sophomore Imoras Agee iced the game with two free throws for the 68-62 win.  
 
The Blazers moved up to 18^th in the latest NABC Top 25 this week as they were 25^th last week.  VSU is the highest ranked team in the poll this week from the Gulf South Conference as Alabama Huntsville fell from 16^th to 21^stfollowing its loss at Mississippi College on Saturday, as the only ranked teams from the league in the poll.  Nova Southeastern is fifth in the poll, while Florida Southern is sixth among teams in the region, while Lee is receiving votes.  
 
In the D2SIDA Top 25 this week, VSU is 16^th and Alabama Huntsville is receiving votes.  The Blazers are third again in the D2SIDA South Region Top Ten.  Florida Southern leads the D2SIDA region rankings, while Nova Southeastern is second and VSU is third.  Lee sits fourth, followed by a tie for fifth between Alabama Huntsville and Barry. Miles is seventh, followed by West Alabama, Palm Beach Atlantic and Union is tenth.  The first NCAA Region Rankings are anticipated to be released Feb. 19.  
 
Heading into the week, Lee leads the league standings with an 11-2 record, while VSU is 10-2 in league play.  Alabama Huntsville and West Alabama sit a game back of the Blazers in a tie for third in the standings at 9-4.  Union is fifth at 9-5, while Montevallo is 7-5 and West Florida is seventh at 7-7 for teams .500 or better.  
 
Shorter enters the week with a 3-18 record overall and a 0-13 mark in league play.  The Hawks have lost 12-straight games dating back to a 73-54 victory over Fort Valley State on Dec. 10.  The Hawks are led this season by Ja'Cori Wilson who leads the team averaging 17.4 points per game on 70 of 142 from the floor (.493).  He is 29 of 67 from beyond the arc for second on the team (.433) and he is second in made free throws on 57 of 68 (.838).  He is averaging a team-high 7.5 rebounds per game.  Bryan Polanco is second in scoring at 15.1 points per game, while Jay Shropshire leads the team with 84 made field goals and 51 triples, while averaging 12.4 points per game.  
 
As a team, the Hawks are shooing .421 from the field, while they are .338 from range with 175 treys and are .736 from the line on 324 of 444, which is good for second in the league in both free throws made and attempts.  SU is averaging 33.9 rebounds per game, allowing 38.2 and scoring 75.6 points per game.  
 
In the first meeting, the Hawks gave the Blazers a game throughout, as VSU led 39-35 at halftime, before posting a 53-44 advantage in the second half en route to a 92-79 victory on Jan. 18 in Rome, Ga.  Despite never trailing in the game, Shorter pulled within 77-70 with 4:15 left, but a big "and one" for Jones put VSU up double-digits with 3:44 remaining.  Shorter never got under ten the rest of the way.  
 
VSU shot 54.8 percent for the second half on 17 of 31 from the field and 15 of 18 from the line in the second half.  Agee had a season-high 22 points to lead the team, while going 7 of 10 from the line.  Smith added 20 points and a team-high nine rebounds as four Blazer starters were in double figures.   Shorter had five players in double figures, led by a double-double from Wilson with 14 points and 11 rebounds.  
 
West Georgia enters with a 6-14 record overall and a 4-8 mark in the league.  UWG will play at West Florida on Thursday, before heading to Valdosta for Saturday's game.  The Wolves snapped a two-game skid, and had won just one of their last seven prior to the 81-74 win over Christian Brothers last Saturday in Carrollton.  
 
The Wolves are led by Kovi Tate, who is averaging 16.6 points per game.  He is 108 of 191 (.565) from the field to lead the team, while he is 50 of 79 from the line for second on the team in made free throws. Tate leads the team averaging 8.9 rebounds per game.  Seth Brown-Carter leads the team with 112 made field goals and is third in scoring at 15.6 points per game.  Brown-Carter is a team-high 39 of 103 from range and third in made free throws on 49 of 59 from the line for a .831 average.  Kadeim Jones is second in scoring at 15.9 points and is third in made field goals with 100 on 249 attempts (.402).  Jones is second on the team in made treys (34) and leads the team in made free throws at 69 of 84 for an .821 clip.  Oronte' Anderson leads the team with 117 assists and 32 steals as he is fourth in scoring at 11.7 points per game.  
 
As a team, the Wolves are shooting .446 from the field on 570 of 1277, while they are 146 of 459 from range (.318) and 272 of 387 (.703) from the line.  UWG is averaging 77.9 points per game and allowing 81.3, while averaging 38.0 rebounds per game and allowing 38.8.  
 
UWG is second in the GSC to VSU in offensive rebounds per game at 11.1, while VSU leads the league at 13.3.  The Wolves also are second in scoring at 77.9 points per game.  The Blazers lead the league in scoring at 88.5 points per game.  UWG also is second in the league in total rebounding at 38.0, while the Blazers lead the league at 41.5 per game.  Individually, Anderson leads the league and is 25^th nationally in assists per game at 5.9, while Tate is 18^thnationally and second in the league in double-doubles with nine.  Tate also is third in the league in defensive rebounds per game at 6.0.  He is third in the league in rebounding at 8.9 per game for 39^th nationally.  Tate also leads the league in field goal percentage at .565 for 45^th nationally.  
 
The Blazers enter the week 13^th nationally in scoring offense at 88.5 points per game to lead the conference, while the team is 21^st in scoring margin at 12.7 for second in the league.  VSU is 24^th nationally in offensive rebounds per game at (13.3) to lead the league, while it is 11^th in total rebounds per game at 41.5 per game.  VSU is 19^th nationally in fewest turnovers with just 227 miscues per game, while the Blazers are 15^th nationally in turnover margin (4.0) and 43^rd in turnovers forced (16.0) to lead the league.  The Blazers are second in the league in field goal percentage at a .465 clip. 
 
Individually, Guillozet leads the GSC in offensive rebounding at 3.32 per game for 25^th nationally, while he is sixth in the league in field goal percentage at .509 and seventh in assists per game at 3.7.  He is fourth in the league and 52^ndnationally in rebounds per game at 8.6, while he is third in the league in total rebounds with 164.  Smith leads the team in scoring at 15.7 points per game.  He has a team-high 112 made field goals, while he is third in rebounding at 6.1 per game.  
 
During the nine-game winning streak, the Blazers are shooting .469 from the field on 229 of 638, while going 68 of 180 from beyond the arc (.378) and 144 of 208 from the line (.692).  VSU is averaging 42 rebounds per game and scoring 90 points per game.  Six players are averaging double figures during the streak as all six have played in all nine games.  
 
Smith leads the team in scoring during the streak at 15.1 points and is 54 of 122 from the field (.443), while Guillozet is averaging 9.2 rebounds per game.  Junior Burke Putnam is 47 of 84 from the field to lead the team with a .560 average and is 11 of 20 from beyond the arc for a .550 clip.