VALDOSTA, Ga. – Trailing by as many as 15 with 11:18 to play, the Valdosta State men's basketball team dug deep and rallied for an 82-73 victory Tuesday evening over visiting West Florida as it snapped a three-game losing streak.  
 
The Argos raced out to a 5-0 lead and then an 8-3 lead on triples from Myles Ruth and Sano Rutatika with 18:04 left in the first half.  Junior Caden Boser buried a triple for a 12-11 deficit with 16:02 to play in the opening half and later Boser pulled VSU within one, once again, at 16-15 on a layup for his ninth point of the early going.  
 
A quick 7-0 run by the Argos pushed the lead to 23-15 with 9:58 to go and a dunk and two free throws from graduate student Jay Rucker pulled VSU within 25-23 moments later.  Rucker then scored his eighth point of the half on a layup with 5:05 to go for a 31-27 deficit, but UWF responded with a 9-2 run and a timeout by the Blazers with 3:19 to play, trailing 40-29.  From there, the Blazers finished the half strong, with a pair of layups from graduate student LaTrell Tate highlighting a 10-4 run to close the half for a 44-39 deficit at intermission.  
 
For the half, VSU shot 15 of 30 from the field, while it was just 1 of 8 from distance and 8 of 9 from the line.  The Argos were 18 of 33 from the field for a 54.5 percent, while they were 3 of 14 from deep and 5 of 5 from the line.  UWF held a 14-11 lead in rebounding and held the lead for the entire half.  UWF forced VSU into six turnovers, leading 13-4 in points off turnovers as the Argos had just four miscues for the half.
 
UWF opened the second half on a 12-3 run for a 56-42 after VSU opened the half with the first bucket from senior Lee Flenor.  UWF began the second stanza 5 of 5 from the field, while VSU was 1 of 5.  Boser hit a triple for a 56-45 deficit with 15:43 to play, but a pair of buckets from Channick Nkoma pushed the UWF lead to 60-47 with 14:18 to go.  The Blazers pulled within nine on a pair of free throws from graduate student Sam Martin at 60-51, but five quick points from the Argos stretched the lead back to double-digits at 65-51 with 11:18 to play.  
 
Tate hit two free throws pulling VSU within 67-59 with 7:38 to play in the game as he transferred to VSU from West Florida this season.  Martin hit one of two free throws for a 67-60 deficit and then Tate buried his 11^th point of the game for a 67-62 deficit moments later.  Then, Boser hit a triple and a 67-65 deficit swelling the run to 10-0.  Ruth ended the run with a bucket at the other end for a 69-65 deficit and 4:54 to play.  Tate then made two more free throws pulling the Blazers back within two at 69-67 with 4:43 remaining.  
 
Boser the tied the game at 69 off an offensive rebound, but Rutatika answered at the other end with a bucket with 3:48 to go.  Since the 11:10 mark on a Braxton Williams triple, VSU used a 17-5 spurt.  Out of the final media timeout, Tate made two free throws to tie the game at 71 for his 15^th point of the contest.  Two more free throws from Tate with 2:40 to go gave VSU its first lead of the game.  Missed free throws then followed by both teams as UWF's Le'Tarion Tate tied the game at 73 with 1:17 left at 73 and a timeout by the Blazers.  
 
Out of the timeout, Rucker grabbed his eighth rebound of the game and scored inside for a 75-73 lead and graduate student JC Clausi made four free throws in the final 31 seconds as VSU went on for the 82-73 victory, outscoring UWF 43-29 in the second half and 30-7 over the final 11:10 of the game.  
 
Valdosta State lead for 2:05, while West Florida led for 35:10. Tate missed his first freethrow of the night with 17:10 left in the second half, he would then go on to make his next nine, with the first one being the 1,000th point of the Marietta native's career. He would go on to finish the night with 17 points and zero turnovers.
 
The Blazers had four players finish in double figures, with Boser leading the way yet again with 19 points on a perfect 7-7 from the field and 3-3 from beyond the arc. Williams would go on to score 17 points off the bench on 50% shooting. Rucker would finish with 12 points, nine rebounds, one blocked shot, and a career high five steals as he sealed the Argos fate with a breakaway jam as the clock ticked away.

VSU improved to 6-6 overall and 3-5 in conference play.
 
Up next, Valdosta State hosts Auburn Montgomery on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 4 p.m.