VALDOSTA, Ga.- The Valdosta State men's basketball team will go on the road for a second straight week as they travel to the volunteer state to face Christian Brothers on Thursday at 8 p.m. and Union on Saturday at 5 p.m.
The Blazers enter the week 14-9 overall and 10-7 in Gulf South Conference play while Christian Brothers is 3-13 overall and 3-13 in league play. Union starts its week 12-8 overall and 11-5 in conference play and will host West Florida on Thursday night before entertaining the Blazers on Saturday.
Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazer.com on the men's basketball schedule page. The games will be broadcast on the radio in Valdosta on 92.1 WDDQ FM and www.talk921.com with Spencer Van Horn having the call.
Valdosta State heads into the first weekend in February sixth in the Gulf South Conference standings with an 10-7 conference record. Union sits just above VSU in fifth place. Lee is fourth, while Alabama Huntsville is third and West Alabama and West Georgia are tied for the lead at 13-4.
Earlier this season, VSU faced Christian Brothers on Dec. 13, 2022 at The Complex, where they sunk the Buccaneers, 86-66. In that matchup, three Blazers entered double digit scoring led by senior Jacolbey Owens' season-high tying 23 points. Redshirt senior Cam Hamilton added 15 points while graduate student Ryan Black chipped in 14. Owens and Hamilton also combined for seven steals, just one steal less than the Buccaneers' had in the game as a team. The matchup remained fairly one-sided as VSU got out to an eight-point lead and did not let up for the remainder of the game.
VSU met Union in Valdosta on December in an 81-78 thriller, where Union ultimately left Titletown with the victory. The game came down to the wire as a pair of free-throws from Owens made the game 80-78 in favor of Union with eight seconds remaining. From there the Blazers were forced to foul in order to earn another offensive possession. A pair of free-throws gave the Bulldogs a three-point advantage as VSU had one final possession to attempt to force overtime. Both, sophomore Caden Boser and Owens attempted shots from deep to try to tie the game, but neither fell as the Bulldogs squeaked out a three-point victory at The Complex.
This season, the Blazers lead the GSC in scoring offensively, scoring 85.6 points per game for 14th nationally. VSU is also first in the GSC in team field goal percentage shooting 48.6 percent for 28th nationally. Valdosta State is second in three-point percentage in the GSC, shooting 37 percent, while it is second in the GSC in a turnover margin at a 3.61 clip for 22nd nationally. The Blazers lead the GSC and are 41st nationally in turnovers forced per game at a 16 clip.
Individually, Owens is ninth in the GSC in scoring averaging 15.7 points per game while also second in assists per game averaging at a 5.7 clip for 14th nationally. Hamilton sits second in the GSC for steals per game at 1.9 steals per game for 50th nationally while Owens is tied for second in the conference at 1.8 per game. Fofana is fourth in the GSC in field goal percentage shooting 120 of 218 (.550) for the season. Graduate student Maurice Gordon is fifth in the GSC in blocks averaging 1.2 per game and junior Jay Rucker is sixth with 1.1 blocks per game. Head coach Mike Helfer is in his 18th season at the helm of the Blazers and is 345-171 at VSU, while he is in his 26th season of coaching overall and is 531-254 all-time.
Christian Brothers comes into the week winners of two of its last ten. The Buccaneers are under the direction of head coach John Reilly, who is in his fourth year as the head coach of the program. Reilly is 27-60 at Christian Brothers and is 501-367 in his 30 years of coaching overall. The Blazers and Buccaneers go into Thursday's matchup with VSU holding a narrow 12-10 advantage in the teams' 22 matchups. Christian Brothers defeated Valdosta State just last season in an 81-74 contest on Jan. 20, 2022 in Memphis.
Individually, Madison Monroe and Aiden Ruthsatz lead the Buccaneers in scoring, with both averaging 10.7 points per game. Monroe also leads the team in rebounding and is 18th in the conference per game at a 5.4 clip. Meanwhile, Ruthsatz leads the team in steals, averaging 1.6 a game and is seventh in the conference.
Following a 56-43 win over Christian Brothers on Saturday, Union enters the week winners of six of its last ten. The Bulldogs are led by head coach David Niven who is in his 14th season at the helm of the program. Niven holds a record of 242-164 in his 14 years of coaching at Union. The Bulldogs have won four of its last ten against the Blazers and currently have a three-game winning streak in the series.
Individually, Tylandrius Parks leads the Bulldogs in scoring and is third in scoring for the conference, averaging 18.3 points per game. Parks also holds the sixth spot for rebounding in the conference at a 6.9 rebounding clip. Union is led in rebounding by Boe Nguidjol, the second leading rebounder in the GSC, averaging 8.5 rebounds a game. Nguidjol also holds the second-place spot for the conference in blocks, averaging 1.3 a game, tied with his teammate Jeremiah Littlepage. Justin Debuck holds the fifth place spot in the GSC for steals, averaging 1.7 thefts per game.
Following the matchups this weekend, the Blazers will return home to The Complex on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 4 p.m. when they host GSC rival, West Florida.
