VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 11 Valdosta State Blazers continue to play on fire as they defeated the West Alabama Tigers by a final of 87-64 on Saturday night. The Blazers extended their win streak to ten games as VSU improved to 16-2 overall and 11-1 in GSC play while UWA dropped to 8-10 overall and 5-7 in the GSC as they are losers of four straight.
 
After leading by only four at the break, the Blazers exploded from behind the arc, as they shot 9-13 from deep in the second half as a team to lead by as many as 25 enroute to another blowout victory. For the game, VSU shot 32-62 (.516) from the field while UWA shot 22-60 (.367). The bench was the difference maker yet again, as the Valdosta State bench scored 41 points as junior Maalik Leitch scored a season-high 25 points off the bench while he erupted for 21 in the second half on 9-14 from the floor and a lethal 6-7 from downtown for the night.
 
Senior Carlos also put together another dominating performance, as the guard scored 24 points on 8-13 from the floor and 8-10 from the charity stripe as he also blocked two shots and hauled in a game high eight boards. As a team, the Blazers forced 15 turnovers while poking away at ten steals and swatting five shots.
 
The Blazers now turn their attention to the No. 4 Chargers, as Alabama Huntsville will enter Titletown with a 17-1 overall record and a perfect 12-0 record in the GSC. The teams will square off on Monday, Jan. 27 at 5:30 p.m. with major postseason implications.
 
Valdosta State held a tight 11-10 leading heading into the first media break as Carlos Hart had four quick points on two trips to the charity stripe for VSU. The Tigers came out of the break with a quick 4-0 run to take a 14-11 lead with 14:24 left in the first half. The Blazers would retaliate quickly with a swift 9-0 run to jump ahead 20-14 on a triple from junior Peter McKey, who finished with seven points coming off the bench. Following an alley-oop slam from junior Antonio Green Jr., the Tigers jumped out to a 34-29 lead with an 11-0 run that stretched across nearly two minutes as things looked to turn to West Alabama's favor. Carlos Hart was not going to let that happen, as he went on a 6-0 scoring run on his own to give VSU a 35-34 with 1:38 left in the first half. Valdosta State would head into the break with a 40-46 lead as senior Braxton Williams would get one to go inside.
 
West Alabama would retake the lead early in the second half as a 6-0 run over the first minute gave them a 42-40 advantage. The bench would coming alive for the first time in the second half as a dunk from junior Lucas Brown Jr. capped off a 9-0 Blazer run to jump ahead 49-42 with 15:46 left in the game. The rest of the way, UWA was never got the game back to single digits as a triple from Braxton Williams at the 5:56 mark put VSU up 19 and helped the Blazers cruise to victory.