VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team returns to action with a pair of road games as it travels to Auburn Montgomery for a 5 p.m. ET on Saturday, Dec. 31, and a 5 p.m. ET tip on Monday, Jan. 2 at Montevallo.
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page. The games also will be broadcast on TALK 92.1 WDDQ FM with Spencer Van Horn having the call and on www.talk921.com.
The Blazers enter the road trip with an 8-6 record overall and a 4-4 mark in Gulf South Conference play. VSU is coming off an 82-78 loss at West Florida on Dec. 18. The Blazers trailed by as many as 13 points, but rallied to tie the game at 71 with 6:22 to play. Senior
Mohamed Fofana led three players in double figures with 17 points and seven rebounds, while sophomore
Caden Boser added 16 points and senior
Jacolbey Owens chipped in 13 points and six assists.
VSU has won 11 of the last 12 meetings with AUM, but the Warhawks won the last meeting in the series with a 72-59 victory on Feb. 10, 2022, in Montgomery, Ala. VSU has won eight of the last 11 against Montevallo, but the Falcons won the last meeting with a 79-73 victory in Montevallo, Ala., on Feb. 12, 2022. Prior to that, VSU had won six of seven.
Blazer head coach
Mike Helfer is in his 18
th season at the helm of the program as he is 339-168 in Titletown, while he is 525-251 overall in 26 years of coaching. This season, the Blazers are 21
st nationally in scoring offense at 85.2 points per game to lead the conference, while they are 24
th nationally in steals per game (9.6), 38
th in assists per game (16.3) and 24
th in blocks per game at a 4.4 clip as all lead the GSC. The Blazers are second in the league in 3-pointers per game (9.3), turnover margin (3.7) and turnovers forced per game (15.9). VSU is second in the league in field goal percentage at a .485 clip for 38
th nationally.
Individually, Owens is second nationally in assists with 85 for the season for second in the league. He is fourth in the league in assist/turnover ratio at a 2.3 clip, while he is fourth in the conference in field goal attempts (161) and has made 66 field goals for third on the team. Owens leads the team with 211 points for fifth in the league in total points, while he averages a team-high 15.1 points per game for eighth in the conference. He is second in the league and tenth nationally in assists per game at a 6.1 clip. Owens leads the league in both free throws attempted (92) for fifth nationally and free throws made (63) for 15
th nationally. Sophomore
Caden Boser is 29
th nationally in free throw percentage at a .905 clip for second in the league on 38 of 42. Fofana is sixth in the league in total points with 209, while Boser is seventh with 199. Senior
Cam Hamilton leads the conference in steals with 27 for 16
th nationally as he has 175 steals for his career at VSU. He is just one theft shy of tying the school-record for steals (176) set by Marlon Jones (1982-87).
AUM enters second in the league in blocks per game at a 4.2 clip for 39
th nationally, while it is 25
th nationally in free throw percentage at a .773 clip for third in the league. The Warhawks are second in the league in offensive rebounds per game at a 11.85 clip, while they are third in the league in steals per game at 7.5. Anderson leads the team averaging 15.7 points per game. James Graham is fifth nationally in steals to lead the GSC with 29, while he averages a team-high 7.2 rebounds per game for sixth in the conference. Head coach Michael Cheney is in his ninth year at the helm of the Warhawks and is 92-137.
Montevallo enters post-Christmas play with a 5-8 record overall and a 3-6 mark in league play. The Falcons are scheduled to host West Florida before entertaining the Blazers on Monday. UM is under the direction of first year head coach Anthony Komara who was an associate head coach at Alabama Huntsville. The Falcons are led by Braxton Bertolette who leads the team averaging 18.7 points per game on 84 of 175 from the field. Bertolette is a team-best 35 of 89 from deep and a perfect 40 of 40 from the line to lead the nation in free throw percentage. Bertolette is third in the league in scoring, second in points scored (243) for 23
rd nationally and 28
th in field goal attempts (175) and field goals made (84) for second and third, respectively, in the league. Bertolette is 26
th nationally in 3-point field goals made (35) for fourth in the league.
As a team, the Falcons are third nationally in free throw percentage at an .819 clip on 154 of 188, while they are third in the GSC in 3-point field goal attempts at 26.5 per contest for 35
th nationally. Montevallo is fourth in the league in 3-pointers per game at 8.2 and fifth in turnovers per game at 11.8 per contest.
Following the two games this weekend, the Blazers return home to open the 2023 portion of the schedule on Thursday at 8 p.m. versus Alabama Huntsville at The Complex.
