VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's basketball team dropped a 91-76 home decision to Christian Brothers Thursday evening at The Complex.  VSU was led by five players in double figures.  
 
The Blazers fell to 8-14 overall and 5-13 in Gulf South Conference play, while Christian Brothers improved to 12-8 overall and 10-7 in league play.  Graduate student LaTrell Tate had a team-high 19 points for the Blazers on 7 of 18 from the field, 2 of 6 from deep and 3 of 4 from the line, while junior Braxton Williams had 15 points on 5 of 9 from the field and 2 of 3 from the stripe.  Senior Mike Isler added 14 points off the bench on 6 of 10 from the field and 2 of 4 from the line, while senior Lee Flenor narrowly missed a double-double with ten points and nine rebounds.  Graduate student Jay Rucker added ten points.
 
The Blazers shot 46 percent from the field on 29 of 63 and were 5 of 14 from deep, while going 13 of 18 from the line.  CBU shot 55.6 percent on 35 of 63 from the field, 5 of 14 from deep and 16 of 18 from the stripe.  
 
CBU raced out to a 10-2 lead through the first three minutes and change in the first half, but the Blazers used a layup from junior Braxton Williams and a dunk from graduate student Jay Rucker for a 10-6 deficit.  VSU tied the game at 12 on a layup from Isler and later he scored his sixth point of the half pulling VSU within 19-18 with 10:10 remaining in the half.
 
From there, CBU went on a 14-4 run for a 33-22 lead with 6:49 remaining in the half.  The Blazers, however, continued to fight and kept chipping away at the deficit thanks to the strong play of Isler and a triple from Williams pulled VSU within 37-31 with 3:44 to go.  A triple from graduate student LaTrell Tate and a layup from Rucker trimmed the deficit to 39-36.  Tate then scored the final bucket of the half for a 43-39 deficit.  Since the 33-22 deficit, VSU scored 17 of the final 27 points of the half. 
 
For the half, VSU shot 17 of 39 from the field for 43.6 percent, while going 2 of 6 from distance and 3 of 4 from the line.  CBU shot a blistering 17 of 29 from the field for 58.6 percent, while the Bucs were 1 of 7 from distance and 8 of 9 from the line.  Graduate student Mike Isler had 13 points for the Blazers on 6 of 10 from the field and 1 of 2 from the line, along with a team-high five rebounds.
 
CBU had three players in double figures for the half and a team-high 13 points from Madison Monroe as he was perfect from the field, going 6 of 6 and 1 of 1 from the line with five rebounds. 
 
The Bucs scored five of the first seven points of the second half, before Williams buried his second trey of the game for a 48-44 deficit with 18:38 to play.  From there, CBU went on a 10-0 run for a 58-44 lead with 14:39 left.  A few minutes later Anderson scored his 20^th point of the game for a 67-53 lead matching the largest lead for CBU in the game with 10:19 to play.  
 
A three-point play from Williams pulled VSU within 78-66 with 5:58 to play, but the Blazers were unable to get trim the deficit as CBU continued to make shots down the stretch for the victory.
 
The Blazers conclude the homestand on Saturday at 4 p.m. versus Union.  Check back with vstateblazers.com for links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more.