ROME, Ga. – The Valdosta State Blazers took care of business on road, downing the Shorter Hawks by a score of 78-62 on Monday night. Graduate student J.C. Clausi had himself a night, scoring a career high 18 points, leading all VSU scorers.
 
Valdosta State improved to 4-2 and 1-1 in GSC play, while Shorter dropped to 3-3 and 1-1 in GSC play.
 
The Blazers kicked things off with a driving layup from graduate student Sam Martin as VSU took an early 2-0 lead. Shorter fought back with a quick 7-3 run to take a 7-5 lead with 16:59 remaining in the first half. Valdosta State retaliated quickly, thanks to a Jack Wetzel three and a Lee Flenor hook shot from down low to take a 10-8 lead. Both teams were battling, as the Hawks were leading 16-14 with 13:06 left in the first half.
 
Graduate student LaTrell Tate came off the bench for the first time all season, and made an immediate impact, hitting a jumper to cut the deficit to three with 11:54 left. Tate would finish with 11 points on the night. Union (Tenn.) transfer JC Clausi was lighting it up, hitting back to back threes in a 43 second span to give the Blazers a 22-20 lead. Valdosta State held a 24-20 lead heading into the under eight timeout of the half.
 
Clausi, the Franklin, Tenn. native, scored a team high 10 points in the first half on 4-5 from the field a 2-2 from behind the arc.
 
The Blazer defense was holding steady, holding the Hawks scoreless for four minutes, as VSU went on a 10-3 run over that span midway through the half. With Valdosta State leading 29-25, Miami native Lee Flenor threw down a jam on a nice assist from Martin, increasing the Blazer lead to six with 4:38 left of the clock.
 
 The defense held the Hawks to 20-56 (35.7%) from the field for the evening, as the Blazers shot 32-55 (58.2%)
 
The dunk sparked something in the Hawks, as they punched back with a 7-2 to trim the Blazer lead to one with the first half coming to a close. Valdosta State ended the first half on a high note with a layup from Clausi with six ticks left on the clock to give VSU a 37-33 lead heading into the break.
 
A total of 10 Blazers played in the first half, with all of them logging seven or more minutes of action versus the Hawks.
 
After a made layup from Shorter to start the second half, Valdosta State went on a quick 6-0 run in 1:05 thanks to a three pointer from Martin on the assist from junior Caden Boser. Flenor kept the Blazers ahead on a layup, as VSU led 49-45 with 13:19 left in the game.
 
Flenor finished the game with 10 points on 5-6 from the floor and corralled a team high eight rebounds.
 
The Hawks kept the game within a possession for most of the second half, as they hit a three to make it a one point game with 12:56 remaining. The Blazers then clamped up on the road, going on a long 14-0 run over a 5:33 stretch to give Valdosta State a 63-50 lead with 7:09 left in the second half. Heading into the final media timeout, Valdosta State was leading 66-58 after a technical foul from VSU.
 
The Hawks tried to make a final run at the Blazers, but JC Clausi finished off a career night by silencing the crowd with a three to give VSU a 14 point lead with 1:09 remaining. The Blazers would come away with their first true road victory of the season, defeating the Shorter Hawks by a score of 78-62 on Monday night in Rome.
 
VSU heads back to The Complex to take on Delta State on Friday, Dec. 1 at 8 p.m. and Mississippi College on Sunday, Dec. 3 at 4 p.m. All updates regarding Blazer basketball can be found at vstateblazers.com