VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 74-70 decision to Shorter on Saturday afternoon in the regular season home finale at The Complex.  VSU fell to 11-14 on the year and 7-11 in Gulf South Conference play, while Shorter improved to 5-17 and 2-15 in league play.  
 
Blazer redshirt junior Cam Hamilton had a game-high 25 points on 9 of 15 from the field, 3 of 7 from beyond the arc and 4 of 5 from the line leading three starters in double figures as juniors Mohamed Fofana and Jacolbey Owens each had 12 points.  The Hawks had five players in double figures led by 16 points from Mark Wilcox, Jr., as he was 6 of 10 from the field, 1 of 3 form deep and 3 of 4 from the line.
 
No team led by more than seven points in the game and there were nine ties and four lead changes throughout.  The Blazers shot 40.6 percent from the field on 26 of 64, while they were 7 of 25 from beyond the arc, but struggled from the line, going 11 of 19.  Shorter shot 47.3 percent from the field on 26 of 55, while it was 6 of 21 from deep and 16 of 19 from the line.  SU held a 39-33 lead in rebounding, but VSU forced 22 turnovers by the Hawks, holding a 31-15 lead in points off turnovers.  
 
The Hawks jumped out to an early 10-4 lead, but a trey from Hamilton pulled VSU within 12-9 with 13:53 left in the half.  Later, Shorter transfer, junior Kelan Walker, gave VSU its first lead of the game at 14-13 with a layup with 11:42 left in the half.  Walker transferred to VSU at the semester.  
 
It was a nip-and-tuck battle the rest of the half as Hamilton highlighted the final seven minutes with a triple to put VSU up 23-22, sparking a 12-3 run capped on a steal from Hamilton and dunk in transition from junior Maurice Gordon with 3:34 left and a 32-25 lead.  VSU held a 34-29 lead at the break.
 
Hamilton score a layup with 16:40 left in the contest giving VSU a 40-33 lead.  Two buckets from Chris Brown and back-to-back triples from Raphael Houssou gave Shorter a 43-40 lead with 12:21 left.  Blazer freshman Ricky Brown answered with a trey to tie the game with 10:38 to play and Fofana also hit a long shot for a 46-46 score with 8:55 to go.  
 
The Hawks used a 5-0 run for a 61-56 lead with 3:05 to go, Hamilton hit a triple and a layup for a 65-65 score and 1:19 left.  An "and one" for Shorter's Ralph Barnett gave the Hawks the lead for good at 68-65 with 1:06 to go.  Fofana cut the defict to 68-67 with a bucket and 43 ticks left, but Barnett scored inside and Shorter stretched the lead to 72-67 with 10 seconds to go on a pair of free throws by Grant Atchley.  Owens answered with a layup to pull within 72-70, but two more free throws for the Hawks sealed the victory.  
 
The Blazers head to Alabama Huntsville for a makeup game on Tuesday, Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. ET and then head to West Georgia for a Saturday, Feb. 26 game at 2 p.m. to close the regular season.