PENSACOLA, Fla. – Behind a team-high 19 points from senior forward Mohamed Fofana, the Valdosta State men's basketball team posted a 20-point victory over Clark Atlanta to conclude the Gulf South/ Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Regional Challenge in Pensacola Sunday evening, 80-60. The Blazers evened their record at 2-2 on the year, while the Panthers fell to 0-2.  

VSU shot 26 of 61 from the field and 6 of 22 from beyond the arc for a 42.6 field-goal percentage and a 27.3 three-point percentage. The Blazers went 22 of 26 from the free-throw line for an 84.6 clip in addition to five blocks, seven steals, and 39 rebounds, including 14 offensive. The offense also scored 17 points off of CAU's 13 turnovers and 17 second-chance points while VSU's bench put up 16 points.  

Fofana went 7 of 11 from the field and a perfect 5 of 5 from the free-throw line in addition to six rebounds, two dimes, and three steals to earn Guardian Bank Player of the Game. Senior guard Jacolbey Owens added 18 points, going 5 of 14 from the field and 8 of 9 from the free-throw line while leading the team with six assists. Sophomore forward Caden Boser was the third Blazer to finish in double figures as he recorded 15 points along with seven rebounds and an assist. Junior forward Jay Rucker had a strong showing, picking up a team-high eight rebounds, a team-high three blocks and four assists in addition to four points. 

For the Panthers, CAU shot 23 of 56 from the field for a 41.1 field-goal percentage, 4 of 17 from beyond the arc for a 23.5 three-point percentage and 10 of 16 from the free-throw line for a 62.5 free-throw percentage. CAU recorded three blocks, three steals and 37 rebounds in addition to 13 second-chance points, four fast-break points, 18 bench points and six points off of six Blazer turnovers.  

Justin Longstreet led the team with 19 points, a team-high two thefts, four assists, and three rebounds. Perkins Dez'Mond and Javonte Sterling each added eight rebounds while Sterling led the team with five assists. Douglas Gwarren recorded two of the three blocks for the Panthers while Perkins was only the second Panther to finish the game in double figures with 11 points.  

After the Panthers jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead to start the game, an and-one from Boser allowed VSU to come within one, 4-3. Following back-to-back layups from CAU, a trey from graduate guard Ryan Black gave VSU a 14-10 lead with 13:22 left in the half. Later, a 6-0 run sparked by a layup from Fofana pushed VSU's lead to 22-15, but the Panthers slowly scratched back to come within three, 29-26 with 4:06 left in half. After Boser collected a pair of free throws to give VSU a 31-28 advantage, a layup and a three-pointer with 42 seconds left sent CAU to the locker room with a slight 33-31 lead.   

The Blazers shot 10 of 32 from the field in the first half for a 31.3 field goal percentage, 2 of 11 from beyond the arc for an 18.2 three-point percentage and were 9 of 12 from the free-throw line for a 75-free-throw percentage. VSU also added 18 rebounds, including 10 offensive and three thefts. VSU recorded 11 fast-break points, seven points off turnovers, eight second-chance points and five bench points as the Blazer defense forced the Panthers into seven turnovers.  

Fofana ended the half leading the team with 12 points and two assists, going 4 of 7 from the field and a perfect 4 of 4 from the free-throw line. Boser added seven points in the first 20 minutes, going 5 of 6 from the free-throw line and 1 of 5 from the field while Rucker led the team in rebounds, recording four in the half and Owens and Fofana combined for four dimes. 

For the Panthers, CAU went into the locker room shooting 14 of 27 from the field and 2 of 7 from beyond the arc for a 51.9 field goal percentage and a 28.6 three-point percentage. CAU also added 20 rebounds, including six offensive, two blocks and one theft.  

Longstreet recorded a team-high nine points, going 3 of 7 from the field, 1 of 3 beyond the arc and was a perfect 2 of 2 from the free-throw line. He also added five rebounds to lead the team at the half while picking up one of the two blocks for the Panthers, the lone steal, and a team-high four assists. Horace Wyatt III added seven points for the Panthers along with two rebounds.     

The Blazer offense came out of the locker room to tie the game at 33 courtesy of a layup from Owens. Owens then collected the and-one to give VSU a one-point lead, 34-33. After a jumper from Longstreet to tie the game again at 43, the Blazers went on an 8-0 run sparked by a pair of free throws from Owens to build a 51-43 lead. With 7:38 left in the game, a huge trey from Boser courtesy of Rucker allowed VSU to gain a nine-point advantage at 61-52, but the Panthers would battle back to come within four, 62-58 from a jumper by Longstreet.  

After the jumper, the Blazers went on a dominating 17-point run, including a pair of exclamation buckets from Owens and Fofana to give the Blazers a 79-58 lead with 30 seconds left. Following the made free-throw from Fofana, the Panthers got two last points off as the Blazers took the game 80-60.   

VSU shot 55.17 from the field, going 16 of 29, and was 84.6 from the free-throw line, going 22 of 26 in the second half. The Blazers recorded 10 points off turnovers, nine second-chance points and nine fast-break points as VSU's bench also added 11 bench points.  

The Panthers shot 9 of 29 from the field in the last 20 minutes for a 31.03 field-goal percentage, 2 of 10 from beyond the arc for a 20 three-point percentage and were 7 of 11 from the free-throw line. CAU added six points off turnovers, five second-chance points, four fast-break points and nine bench points.  

The Blazers are set to open conference play and the 2022-2023 home slate on Thursday, Nov. 17, playing host to Lee at 8 p.m., inside The Complex, before welcoming the Shorter Hawks to Titletown on Nov. 19 at 4 p.m.