VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 16 Blazers bounce back from yesterday's loss against West Georgia and took the Wolves down Saturday afternoon by a final score of 71-61.
 
Today's win gives Blazer head coach Mike Helfer his 498th career win over the span of his 24 years of coaching. Currently, Helfer holds a record of 312-144 at the helm of the Blazers in his 16th year. Helfer hit the 300-win mark as the Blazers head coach last season with an 80-66 win over West Florida on Feb. 27, 2020.
 
VSU (9-3, 9-3 Gulf South Conference) witnessed Guardian Bank Player of the Game Mohamed Fofana have a career day. The junior was perfect from the field and set career-highs in points (14), minutes (27), field goals made (5), free-throws made and attempted (4-5), rebounds (8), and finally assists (3). Fofana led the Blazers in scoring, followed by junior Jacolbey Owens who recorded 13 points and was the only other Blazer in double digits.
 
The Wolves (3-6, 3-6 GSC) were led by 16 points from sophomore guard J. J. Barnes who shot six for 12 from the field (.500) with four balls from deep. The Wolves finished with three players in the double digits for points while shooting 80% from the free throw line.
 
Just like the day before, the Blazers were able to get on the board first, but the Wolves answered with a three and a jumper to quickly put itself ahead. Down three early, senior Burke Putnam made a jumper which started an 8-0 run for the Blazers to put itself up 12-5, playing shutdown defense during that span. UWG halted the run with a three, but Owens would answer right back with a deep ball of his own. Both teams were battling, matching each other's shots and long balls until the Wolves were able to shut down the Blazers and tie the game up at 28. Junior Maurice Gordon drove in and secured two, while junior Matt Treacy came right back down after a Wolves turnover and drilled a three. Owens would match Treacy's three with one of his own to put the Blazer's up 36-28. The Wolves were able to get two buckets as time was winding down, but the Blazers went into the locker room with the 36-30 advantage.
 
The Blazers outshot the Wolves, going 16 for 41 from the field (.390) where the Wolves shot 12 for 33 (.364). The Wolves had the edge in three-pointers, going seven for 18 (.389) from deep compared to the Blazers who went four for 14 (.286) from beyond the arch. The first half was clean on fouls for the most part as only three free-throws were shot with the Wolves going two for two and then Blazers missing their lone attempt.
 
The Wolves got the second half going with a layup, but Owens got the hot shooting going with another ball from deep. Down by four, the Wolves proceeded to go on a quick 8-0 run to give itself a 43-39 lead with 16:00 left to play. Redshirt junior Cam Hamilton put a stop to the run with a ball that was good for three followed by Fofana who got fouled driving in but made the basket and one to put the Blazers up two, giving the Blazers the momentum to not trail for the remainder of the game. Although the Wolves were able to tie it up right after, the Blazers were able to match its shots as Owens regained the lead from the paint. A steal and layup from Hamilton followed by two free-throws from graduate transfer Travis Bianco saw the tie game quickly turn to a six-point advantage for the Blazers. The run didn't stop there as Fofana got in on the action, sinking two free throws of his own. The Wolves were able to end the 8-0 run with a pair of free-throws itself but VSU kept up the pressure with another three-pointer. The energy from the Blazers was too much for the Wolves to handle, as the Wolves pushed it close and made it a five-point game, but the Blazers always had an answer and continued to dominate as the clock hit zero, where it ended the matchup with a 71-61 win.
 
The Blazers controlled the game with its defense, only allowing the Wolves to shoot 21 for 65 (.323) from the field which was .185 worse than the day before. The Blazers went on to shoot 25 for 68 (.368) from the field with seven threes. The Blazers saw the charity stripe 16 times and only missed two (.875) and dominated on the glass, bringing down 21 more rebounds than the Wolves. VSU saw 34 of its points come off the bench along with 34 coming inside the paint.
 
VSU heads on the road next weekend to faceoff against Montevallo Friday, Feb. 5 at 7 p.m. EST and Saturday, Feb. 6 at 3 p.m. EST. Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page.