Box Score ATLANTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State Blazers avenged last week's loss as they up their fourth win of the year in a 79-66 road win at Morehouse College on Thursday night. VSU improved to 4-1 while MC dropped to 1-3. Stats were not readily available following the game.
 
A quick steal during the full court press resulted in a layup from senior Braxton Williams to put VSU up 2-0. Two free throws from MC followed by a layup had things tied at four two minutes into the game. A quick transition had the Blazers loose where junior Lucas Brown knocked home a triple to give VSU an early edge. Heading into the first media timeout, Valdosta State led 9-7.
 
Coming out of the break, Lucas Brown picked up right where he left off as the guard drilled a top of the key three to grow the lead to five. After a quick Morehouse College layup on the other end, MJ Jones was left open on the right wing and he made them pay with another triple. A quick defensive stop had VSU out in transition where Braxton Williams was left wide open for VSU's third straight triple to force a Maroon Tiger timeout. Both teams were trading jabs the Blazers held a 20-17 advantage over the Maroon Tigers at the under 12 timeout.
 
Sloppy play on both ends out of the timeout resulted in a bundle of turnovers from both teams with VSU still leading 20-19. LaDarrius Chigano was able to flush two points home on a slick dime from the left block to keep VSU up with a slight edge. Lucas Brown hit his third triple of the first half as all of a sudden, the Blazers were on a 5-0 run. The VSU defense was running all over the place yet again, as they forced a 10-second violation to take us to the under eight timeout with VSU up 25-19.
 
The Maroon Tigers ended the Blazer run out of the break as another second chance bucket made it a four-point game. Senior Carlos Hart responded with a floater to keep Morehouse College at bay. LaDarrius Chigano proved to be a force around the rim as he recorded two first half blocks to keep that paint clean for VSU. A quick 5-0 run by the Maroon Tigers in the last 60 seconds cut the lead to two as Valdosta State went into the half with a 30-28 lead.
 
Following a forced turnover on the defensive end, Valdosta State opened the second half on a layup curtesy of junior Drew Mills. Following a second chance bucket from MC, Carlos Hart went coast to coast on another layup as the Blazers were up 36-32. Both offenses were starting to get going, as Drew Mills hit a corner to three to give VSU a three point lead that was quickly erased by an and-one from MC to tie it all up at 41 with 16:41 left to play. The very next possession, junior Tony Green Jr. responded with an and-one of his own. After he missed the chance to complete the three-point play, Valdosta State was able to get a stop that then resulted in a second chance bucket from Maalik Leitch to give the Blazers a four-point lead. Another bucket from Maalik Leitch the following possession sent us to the first media timeout of the second half as VSU led 47-41.
 
Coming out of timeout, Cobey Harraway got into the scoring column on a layup with Morehouse College quickly coming back with a dunk on the other end. Another ferocious block from Chigano led to an easy runout for the Blazers as they took their first double digit lead of the night, leading 54-44 with 10:58 remaining in the game.
 
Out of the media break, a quick Maroon Tiger bucket was negated yet again as Drew Mills got one to go inside on the dish from Braxton Williams. A foul by VSU sent MC into the bonus with 9:08 left. Two made free throws from the Maroon Tigers cut the VSU lead to seven. A stop on the defensive end had MJ Jones in transition who hit a reverse layup to get it back to a nine point lead. Another consecutive stop resulted in MJ Jones being left wide open for three, as he knocked it home to back it a 12-point lead and force a MC timeout with 8:07 left in the game.
 
A sloppy two minute stretch of basketball resulted in no field goals made for either team as Morehouse College hit two free throws and Valdosta State hit four to grow the lead to 64-50 with just under six minutes to play. Another defensive stop for the Valdosta defense resulted in a late shot clock heave from junior Ethan Pires, who hit a tough turn away two at the buzzer to extend the lead to 16 with 4:50 remaining.
 
Coming out of the final media timeout, Drew Mills broke one out for a backscratching two hand flush to put an exclamation point on the Valdosta State win, downing Morehouse College by a final score of 79-66.
 
Up next, Blazers are back at The Complex as they will host Thomas University on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m. to close non-conference play.