VALDOSTA, Ga. – In a tale of two halves, the Valdosta State men's basketball team lead by as many as 16 points in the first half, only to watch West Florida rally in the second half to take the lead, before the Blazers responded in the final minute for a 90-88 victory Sunday evening. 
 
With the win, the Blazers improved to 7-2 overall and 2-1 in Gulf South Conference play, while UWF fell to 1-8 and 0-3 in league play.
 
VSU held an 83-77 lead with 2:51 to play, but a triple from James Locke IV and four free throws from Shay Davis gave UWF an 84-83 lead with 46 seconds left.  Senior Braxton Williams came up with a huge triple – his first of the game, with 19 seconds left and junior MJ Jones forced a steal and his own score on a layup for an 88-84 lead with 13 seconds remaining.  Williams' triple was his first in eight attempts for the game.  Lock IV drained his third long ball of the evening to trim the VSU lead to 88-87 with five second to play.  Jones was fouled with four seconds left and hit both charity tosses for a 90-87 lead.  VSU decided to foul with one second left.  Davis hit one of two free throws with senior Carlos Hart grabbing the final rebound to seal the win, 90-88.
 
Hart finished the game leading five players in double figures with 22 points in 6 of 14 from the field, 2 of 6 from deep and a team-best 8 of 9 from the line, while he had four steals.  Jones tallied 14 points, while junior Drew Mills and Williams each had 12 points and junior Maalik Leitch added 12 off the bench.  VSU shot 41.3 percent for the game on 31 of 75, while it was 5 of 27 from distance and 23 of 27 from the line.  
 
The Argos were led by 16 points from Davis, while Xavier Glenn added 14 points off the bench and 11 from Le'Tarion White.  UWF shot 55 percent for the game on 33 of 60 from the field, 6 of 11 from deep and 16 of 22 from the line.  The Argos held a 40-34 lead in rebounding, but VSU forced 23 turnovers to just eight for the Blazers, leading 25-8 in points off turnovers.  
 
The Blazers raced out to an 11-2 lead through the first four minutes, opening the game 5 of 8 from the field, while UWF was just 1 of 5.  VSU forced six turnovers early and capitalized with a 7-0 lead to that point in points off turnovers.  The spurt was capped with a steal from senior Carlos Hart and then a triple from junior MJ Jones.  
 
Out of the first media timeout, the run continued as Leitch scored and then the seventh miscue by the Argos proved costly as junior Peter McKey earned the "and one" for a 16-2 score with 14:37 left in the first half.  VSU continued the strong start with a triple from Hart and a turnaround jumper from junior Drew Mills for a 23-7 lead with 12:08 left in the first half.  
 
A bucket from UWF's Zondrick Garrett and a triple from Ryan Payne pulled the Argos within 23-12, but another turnover and bucket from Jones pushed the lead to 25-12 and Jones' seventh point of the half.  Following a timeout by the Blazers after UWF had cut the deficit to 11 at 30-19, the Blazers quickly pushed the lead to 35-19 with 8:25 to play capped with a triple from Tony Green Jr.
 
Leitch put VSU up 39-23 with 7:02 to play, but the Argos responded with a 22-8 run to close the half pulling within 47-45 at the break.  Within the final run by the Argos, trailed 42-28 with six minutes left and went on a 13-0 run to pull within 42-41 with 2:28 to play.  Senior Braxton Williams buried the "and one" for a 45-41 lead and hit a jumper for a 47-43 lead, before UWF's White pulled the Argos within 47-45 at the break.  
 
The Blazers cooled down after the hot start to shoot 19 of 45 from the field for 42.2 percent, while they were just 3 of 17 from distance and 6 of 8 from the line.  UWF improved to 19 of 32 from the field for 59.4 percent, while it was 2 of 4 from deep and 5 of 7 from the line.
 
UWF took its first lead of the game at 52-51 on pair of free throws from Ja'Ron Briggs with 17:49 to play.  An offensive rebound and dunk from Kyle McElroy pushed the lead to 54-51.  Hart buried his second triple of the game tying the score at 56, but Shay Davis of UWF answered with a triple at the other end.  The "and one" for Hart tied the game at 59.  
 
The Blazers held an 80-76 lead with 4:02 to play capped with two free throws from Lucas Brown Jr.  The Blazers continue at home this Thursday at 8 p.m. versus Trevecca Nazarene, before hosting Lee on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 4 p.m. prior to the Christmas break.