CLEVELAND, Miss. – The Valdosta State Blazers defeated the Delta State Statesmen 78-71 on Thursday evening in Clinton, Miss. as four Blazers scored in double figures. Valdosta State improves to 8-11 and 5-10 in conference play as Delta State drops to 10-8 overall and 8-6 in GSC play.
 
Senior Lee Flenor led VSU in scoring with 15 points on 7-8 from the floor. The Gulf South Conference leader in rebounds continued his dominance in the paint as he corralled nine boards on the night.
 
The Blazers turned nine Statesmen turnovers into 16 points as they took advantage of everything that was given to them. In the interior, Valdosta State played bully ball against Delta State, outscoring them 50-20 down on the low block.
 
Graduate student JC Clausi started out hot for Valdosta State, hitting his first three shots for six early points as the Blazers trailed 8-6 with 16:42 remaining. VSU hit five of their first six shots as things were even at 10 heading into the first media timeout. A quick layup from senior Lee Flenor gave the Blazers a 12-10 a quarter of the way through the half.
 
VSU kept things rolling, as the Blazer run stretched to 11-1 over 4:25. Valdosta State led 17-11 heading into the under 12 timeout off a three pointer from graduate student LaTrell Tate. Out of the media timeout, the Statesmen raced out to a 18-17 on a quick 7-0 run. Flenor silenced the run and gave the Blazers a 19-18 lead off a bucket inside.  Two more buckets inside capped off by a dunk from graduate Student Jay Rucker. Valdosta State led 23-18 with 7:08 remaining. Delta State came right back with eight straight points and back-to-back three pointers from Chris Terrell as he put the team on his back to take a three-point lead as he would finish with 25 points for the night. Flenor quieted the Cleveland crowd with a layup to cut the deficit to two with 4:17 left in the first half. Rucker flushed home another dunk to make it a one-point game with 3:39 left. Chris Terrell continued his hot shooting night for the Statemen, drilling his third three of the first half as DSU had their largest lead of the game, leading 35-29. Two quick free throws from graduate student Sam Martin and a dunk from senior Mike Isler cut it to two with 49 ticks left. A turnover and a foul from DSU gave Rucker a chance to tie the game up heading into the break. He did just that, sinking both free throws as the game was all knotted up at 35 heading into the break.
 
Both teams were battling back and forth as the second half started, with junior Braxton Williams and Chris Terrell trading baskets early. Four minutes in, things were tied up at 43. The Blazers then jumped out to a 7-0 run to take a 50-43 thanks to Tate starting to heat up. Chris Terrell continued his dominance, coming back with a three to cut the VSU lead to five with 13:35 on the game clock. Both teams were trading punches as a layup from JC Clausi gave Valdosta State a four-point lead heading into the under 12 timeout. Junior Caden Boser got into the three-point column as he knocked home a trey ball out of the break to extend the Blazer lead to seven. Two quick layups from Flenor on the break had things looking up for Valdosta State as they extended their lead over Delta State to 11 as the Statesmen swiftly called a timeout with 10:13 left. The timeout did no good, as JC Clausi came out of the break with a layup and then a slam from senior Mike Isler off the steal from Tate extended to lead 15 with 8:32 left in the game.
 
The Statesmen would not go away quietly, as they jumped out to a quick 8-0 run in 1:30 to make it 69-61 in favor of the Blazers. A couple of free throws from VSU and two quick buckets inside from DSU trimmed the Blazer lead to seven with 3:10 left heading into the final media timeout. Coming off a turnover from Maalik Cartwright of DSU, Jay Rucker splashed home a three with 2:09 left to give the Blazers a 10-point lead as time was ticking down, with 2:09 on the clock. The Valdosta State Blazers fend off the Delta State Statesmen, 78-71.
 
VSU continues in the Magnolia State on Saturday at 5 p.m., versus Mississippi College, but the game will be played at Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Miss., at the Owens Health and Wellness Center.  Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming of the game at vstateblazers.com.  The game also will be broadcast on Talk 92.1 WDDQ FM with Jack Calhoun having the call.