VALDOSTA, Ga. – The sixth ranked Valdosta State Blazers used a 55 point second half to down the Mississippi College Choctaws at The Complex by a final of 80-68 in front of 1,781 fans for the annual reader appreciation game. Valdosta State improved to 20-4 overall and 15-3 in the GSC while Mississippi College dropped to 8-19 overall and 4-15 in GSC play.
The Blazers clinched home court advantage for the GSC quarterfinals which will take place on Tuesday, Mar. 4 at 6:30 p.m. at The Complex.
Things looked bleak for VSU early in the game as they trailed by as many as nine points with just under two minutes left in the first half until a quick 6-0 run capped off by a triple from Malik Leitch with seconds remaining had them trailing 28-25 at the break. The Blazers lead for 8:57 in the game while the Choctaws led for 26:33 as they were in control for the whole first half and most of the second half before an 11-0 run with just under seven minutes left in the game gave the Blazers the victory.
Despite what the numbers say, Valdosta State had a great gameplan for one of the top scorers in the nation in Rashad Bolden who scored a game high 29 points on an inefficient 10-30 shooting from the field and 5-15 from three. The Choctaws second leading scorer Ty Briscoe was also held in check as he shot 2-16 from the field and 0-5 from deep. For the Blazers,
Carlos Hart led the way in scoring with 21 points on 8-17 from the floor and a perfect 4-4 from the line while hauling in seven boards.
Maalik Leitch scored 20 points off the bench for the fourth time this season as 17 of those points came in the second half as he provided a major spark for head coach
Mike Helfer. Senior
Cobey Harraway scored 12 points on a perfect 5-5 shooting including a rim rattling putback dunk with 5:36 left in the game to put the Blazers up six.
As a team, Valdosta State committed five turnovers with only one of those coming in the second half as they kept it clean. VSU forced MC to commit 15 turnovers as Valdosta State turned those into 18 points while Mississippi College was only able to turn the five VSU turnovers into two points. The Blazers struggled from distance again as they started off shooting 0-10 before finishing the game shooting 5-24. The Choctaws shot 8-25 from distance and 25-64 from the floor for a .391 clip.
The Blazers are back in action on Thursday, Feb. 20 in Memphis, Tenn. versus Christian Brothers at 8 p.m. ET before they close the road trip out on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 5 p.m. ET versus Union.
