VALDOSTA, Ga. – The sixth ranked Blazers suffered their second consecutive loss at The Complex on Thursday night, as they fell to the hands of Delta State by a final of 96-92. VSU dropped to 19-4 overall and 14-3 in GSC play while DSU improved to 13-11 overall and 9-9 during conference play. Valdosta State is back in action Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. to play Mississippi College.
 
Delta State had three scorers surpass the 20 point mark as Kolby Horace scored 20, Jesse Washington had 22, and Keithean Brooks dropped 24 on 9-11 from the floor. For Valdosta State, Carlos Hart led the team in scoring with 21 points on 9-13 from the floor while hauling eight rebounds and dishing out three assists. Off the bench, Maalik Leitch chipped in with 15 points while grabbing a season high seven boards. VSU couldn't get it going from deep, as they shot 5-23 from distance while DSU shot 8-21. Despite each team committing 12 turnovers, the Statesmen took advantage at turning that into 22 points while the Blazers only scored nine. Valdosta State dominated the rebounding battle as they outrebounded Delta State 39-27 with 17 of those coming on the offensive end which resulted in 22 second chance points.
 
A triple from junior Peter McKey and a fastbreak layup gave VSU a 13-12 lead with 14:40 to play in the first half and the first lead of the game for the Blazers.  Following one of two free throws from the Statesman, junior Ethan Pires hit an off-balance jumper and then McKey scored inside off a miscue by DSU for a 17-13 VSU lead.
 
DSU used an 11-0 run for a 24-17 lead with 10:20 to play, but junior Drew Mills ended the run with a bucket in the paint and senior Carlos Hart pulled the Blazers within five at 26-21 with 9:30 to play in the half.  Following a miss by the Statemen, junior MJ Jones used a nifty move in the lane for a 26-23 deficit, then senior Cobey Harraway scored off his own offensive rebound for a 26-25 deficit and a timeout by the Statemen with VSU in the midst of an 8-2 run with 8:31 left in the half.  Following a five second call on DSU out of the stoppage, Harraway hit a deep jumper, extending the run to 10-2 and a 27-26 VSU lead with 7:50 left in the half.  
 
Senior Braxton Williams scored inside for a 29-26 lead, extending the run to 12-2.  DSU's Kolby Horace hit a pull up jumper, but Mills answered at the other end for a 31-28 score and six minutes remaining in the half.  Horace then tied the game with a triple at the other end.  The Blazer "D" came up big with a block from junior LaDarrius Chigano and then an alley-oop dunk from junior Tony Green, Jr., and a triple from McKey for a 36-31 VSU lead in a flurry of action with 4:23 to play in the half.  
 
Chigano would come up with a big offensive rebound and putback for a 38-33 lead.  Keithan Brooks earned the "and one" for DSU pulling the Statemen within 38-36 with 2:22 to play in the half and his 12^th point of the game.  DSU scored two late buckets to tie the game at 42 at half.  
 
VSU shot 46.2 percent for the half on 18 of 39 from the field, while it was 3 of 14 from distance and 3 of 6 from the line.  DSU shot an even 50 percent on 16 of 32 from the field, while the Statesmen were 4 of 13 from deep and 6 of 7 from the line.  VSU held a 23-13 lead in rebounding and 10-1 on the offensive glass, but DSU cashed in seven VSU miscues for a 13-4 advantage in points off turnovers.   McKey had a team-high 10 points off the bench, while Brooks had 15 points for the Statesmen and Jesse Washington added 11.  
 
Jones drained a triple from a 52-51 VSU lead with 17:13 left in the second half as the teams traded buckets early in the half.  A steal from Horace and a trey from Samuel Whitmer gave DSU a 59-54 lead with 15:49 left in regulation.  A big offensive rebound and dunk from Je'Marion Westbrook gave DSU its largest lead at 63-58 and then extended the lead to 65-58 moments later.  Westbrook then was fouled on a made 3-pointer for the four-point play stretching the lead to 11 at 69-58 with 12:20 to play and a 10-4 run since Hart's layup with 15:40 mark.  
 
Blazer junior Maalik Leitch hit a step back jumper pulling VSU within 71-65 with just over 11 minutes to go.  Brooks picked up his fourth foul with 10:33 to play and had to take a seat on the bench.  Leitch pulled VSU within 71-67, but DSU had the answer at the other end, for a 73-67 score.  Hart scored off a missed triple, pulling VSU within four at 73-69 with nine minutes to play.  Mills scored following two missed free throws from DSU trimming the deficit to 73-71 with 8:30 to play.  Solid defense by the Blazers forced the turnover and the "and one" from Mills gave VSU the lead at 74-73 and 7:53 to play with a 12-2 run since the 11:29 mark.  
 
VSU tied the game at 78 and then forced a turnover and bucket for an 80-78 lead with 6:22 to play.  Brooks answered with a triple in the corner for an 83-80 DSU lead.  Leitch scored inside with the scoop pulling VSU within 85-84 with under four minutes to go.  Out of the final media timeout, Leitch scored his 13^th point, once again pulling VSU within one at 87-86.  DSU kept up the offensive production with a bucket from Washington, but a great bucket from Mills and dish from Leitch made the deficit one, once again at 89-88.  
 
Leitch earned the "and one" pulling VSU within 93-90 and got the offensive rebound but was unable to come up with the bucket with 1:04 to go.  Brooks scored with 33 seconds remaining for a 95-90 score.  Williams scored off an offensive rebound for a 95-92 deficit and 25.3 seconds remaining.  Both teams were in the 1-and-1 as VSU fouled Brooks with 19.1 seconds left.  Brooks missed the free throw, but DSU came up with the rebound and Brooks was fouled once again with 13.5 seconds remaining.  This time he made one of two as VSU missed a three at the other end and DSU ran out the clock for the 96-92 upset victory.