LAKELAND, Fla. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought, 79-65 decision to Hillsdale College on Sunday afternoon to conclude the Small College Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland. The Blazers fell to 0-2 on the year while Hillsdale improved to 2-0 after defeating Dallas Baptist on Saturday.  

The Blazers shot 23 of 57 for the game for a 40.4 field goal percentage and went 6 of 26 beyond the arc for a 23.1 three-point percentage. The Blazers had a 72.7 free-throw percentage, going 13 of 18 from the line and added 28 rebounds, including eight offensive, 10 assists and 13 steals. 

Senior forward Mohamed Fofana went 5 of 9 from the field and 5 of 8 from beyond the arc in addition to seven rebounds, three assists and three thefts to earn Guardian Bank Player of the Game. Sophomore forward Caden Boser led the offense with a team-high 16 points and added four rebounds and three steals while senior Guard Jacolbey Owens was the third Blazer to score in double figures, picking up 10 points, three assists, two thefts and a rebound.  

For the Chargers, the team shot 34 of 64 from the field and 8 of 24 from beyond the arc. Hillsdale added 37 rebounds, including 10 offensive, 21 assists, three blocks and eight steals. Joe Reuter led the offense with 22 points, while three other Chargers ended the game scoring in double figures. Peter Kalthoff recorded a team-high two blocks while Jack Gohlke, Cole Nau, and Ashton Applegate all had two thefts each.  

After a quick three-pointer from the Chargers to start the game, Jacolbey Owens drew a foul on the other end of the court to put the Blazers on the board, 3-2.  

Following a 7-0 run from the Chargers, the Blazers were able to get back on track with a deep three-pointer from junior guard Cam Selders to bring the Blazers within five, 10-5. Boser was then able to get a pair of driving layups off to cut Hillsdale's lead to 14-11 and a floater from Fofana brought VSU within one, 14-13.  

Later in the half, the Blazers went on a 7-0 run sparked by a huge driving layup by Boser to bring VSU within two, 24-22. Following a 17-0 run from the Chargers to force a 42-25 lead, Owens ended the scoring drought with a layup and Fofana added a free throw to cut the deficit to 42-28 with 1:40 left in the half. Boser added another layup with 26 seconds left to send VSU to the locker room trailing 42-30.  

The Blazers ended the half going 10 of 29 from the field and 3 of 14 from beyond the arc for a 34.5 field-goal percentage and a 21.4 three-point percentage. Boser led the offense with 11 points, while shooting 5 of 8 from the field and 1 of 4 from beyond the arc and added two rebounds while Owens added six points on offense, going 2 of 5 from the field and was a perfect 2 of 2 from the free-throw line. He also recorded two steals and added a rebound.   

Fofana recorded four rebounds to lead the team at the half along with five points and four assists, going 1 of 3 from the field and 3 of 4 from beyond the arc, while Selders added three points on offense along with three thefts.  

For the Chargers, the team shot 18 of 31 from the field for a 58.1 clip and 5 of 14 from beyond the arc for a 35.7 three-point percentage. Joe Reuter led the offense with 15 points and three rebounds while Kyle Goessler added 12 points along with a pair of rebounds and three assists. Gohlke added four dimes along with two rebounds and three points while Kalthoff ended the half with six points, two rebounds and the team's lone block.  

The Chargers added a quick dunk out of the locker room before Boser responded with a huge three-pointer to bring the score to 44-33 in favor of HC. Later, a huge dunk from Boser allowed VSU to come within 13, 60-47, but a three-pointer from the Chargers pushed the team's lead to 63-47 with 10:05 left in the game.  

A minute later, graduate guard Ryan Black added a huge three-pointer to shift momentum and bring VSU within 63-51, and another layup from Fofana allowed VSU to scratch back within 10, 63-53 with 8:21 left on the clock. 

Deep into the half, the Chargers went on a 4-0 run to build a 75-58 lead before Owens added a pair of free throws, Fofana added a tip-in dunk and Hamilton followed with a huge trey to cut the deficit to 75-65 with 1:26 left. The Chargers ended the game with a final jumper to take the game 79-65.  

 VSU ended the second half going 13 of 28 from the field for a 46.4 clip and 3 of 12 beyond the arc for a 25 three-point percentage. The Blazers had 28 rebounds, 10 assists, and 13 steals. Fofana led the offense with 10 points and had two thefts, while junior forward Jay Rucker added six points. Hamilton added two more steals and recorded three points while Boser and Black each added five points.  

The Chargers shot 48.5 percent from the field and 30 percent from beyond the arc. Nau and Eric Radisevic led the offense with eight points each, while Reuter and Gohlke added seven points each.  Reuter added five rebounds to the second half and Nau and Gohlke combined for four thefts.  

The Blazers are back in action next weekend at the Gulf South/Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Challenge hosted by West Florida in Pensacola on Nov. 12-13. VSU will take on Fort Valley State on Nov. 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET and will round out the weekend with Clark Atlanta on Nov. 13 at 5:30 p.m. ET.  VSU will open conference play and the 2022-2023 home slate with rival Lee on Nov. 17 at 8 p.m. inside The Complex.