VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 9 Blazers showed their teeth in a dominating 114-94 win over the Warhawks on Thursday night at The Complex. This was the eighth time VSU surpassed 100 points this season as they improved to 23-4 and 18-3 in GSC play.
 
Valdosta State forced 23 turnovers and scored 38 points off those turnovers as they were flying around all evening. Six Blazers scored double digit points as Drew Mills led the way with 20 points on 9-14 from the floor and 2-5 from distance while hauling in six boards. Carlos Hart was dominant and efficient on both ends as the senior scored 19 points on 7-8 from the field and 5-7 from the line while poking away at five steals. With those five steals tonight, Hart is one steal away from tying the single season record for most steals by an individual that was set by Patrick Diop in 2012-13 when he had 74 steals. Tony Green Jr. was effective off the bench as the Naples native scored 11 points on 4-5 from the field while hauling in six rebounds and swatting one shot and tallying two steals. MJ Jones was the final stat stuffer for the Blazers as the PG had 14 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists while also earning two steals.
 
The Blazers will now turn their heads towards senior day as they host the Montevallo Falcons on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 4 p.m. with the senior being honored beforehand.
 
MJ Jones opened the game with a triple in the right corner on the assist from Drew Mills to get things going. Following a defensive stop, Mills got to his signature midrange game to make it 5-0. The Warhawks came back with a triple from Max Ndiaye followed by a layup inside from Chappelle Whitney as things were even at 5-5. A typical fast-paced game had Auburn Montgomery leading 11-9 at the first media break with Max Ndiaye getting a hoop plus the harm.
 
Peter McKey came in fresh off the bench and drilled a middy to tie things at 11 before Antonio Green swatted a shot at the other end to continue the Blazer spark. Ndiaye continued to torment the VSU defense as the AUM guard had 9 of the 13 Warhawk points as it was 13-13 with 14:16 left in the first half. Carlos Hart took advantage of an Auburn Montgomery miscue as he stole the ball on the inbound and laid it in as Valdosta State led 15-13. The Mike Helfer full-court press proved to be tough early as the Blazers jumped ahead 23-18 after several Warhawk miscues led to easy baskets inside from Braxton Williams and Carlos Hart. Williams started to heat The Complex up on back to back threes that ignited a quick 14-2 run over a 1:30 stretch as VSU led 31-20 with 11:13 left in the first half. VSU would extend the lead to 14 on a second chance basket from Lucas Brown Jr. as the b bench was playing with purpose early. Brown would get another basket as AUM had 11 turnovers early as VSU scored 21 points off those miscues. Valdosta State was looking for more as they led 43-25 heading to the under eight timeout.
 
Both teams came out of the break and couldn't buy a basket as neither team could make a field goal. LaDarrius Chigano made his presence known with a major swat inside as he kept the paint clean. Valdosta State would end the scoring drought as another steal from Brown Jr. resulted in a basket. Following a strong defensive possession, Brown Jr. and Green were running on the break as a perfect alley oop slam from Brown Jr. to Green made it a 51-26 game with 4:48 left as Warhawk head coach Michael Cheaney called a timeout. The timeout wouldn't extinguish the Blazers as Drew Mills came right off the bench and drilled a right wing triple to give VSU a 28 point lead. Things stayed on pace as Maalik Leitch got one to go with four seconds left as VSU was leading 62-33 at the half.
 
It was a well-balanced scoring effort for the Blazers in the first half as Drew Mills led the way with 11 points on 5-8 from the field while Braxton Williams was not far behind with ten points on 4-7 from the floor and 2-4 from deep. Defense to offense was the key factor as VSU forced 15 turnovers that resulted in 28 points. 12 of those 15 turnovers were steals with Carlos Hart leading the way with four as the Blazers had 27 points on the break. Auburn Montgomery shot 13-15 from the field for a .371 clip while shooting 2-13 from deep. Valdosta State was 26-43 from the floor for a .605 clip as they were getting whatever they wanted.
 
The Warhawks came out of the locker room on a quick 8-3 run over the first 1:15 that prompted a timeout from head coach Mike Helfer as the Blazers were leading 65-41. The AUM defense held steady coming out of the timeout as they forced a shot clock violation and followed that up with a triple from Chappelle Whitney to extend the run to 11-3. Hart was finally able to get one to go inside for his ninth and tenth point with 17:24 remaining in the game. AUM was determined to fight as they continued to trade two for one as they cut to 19 as Helfer called another timeout with VSU leading 71-52 and 16:11 on the clock.
 
After making a full group sub, Green continued to stay hot as he knocked home a triple to bring the lead back to 22 as he had surpassed double digit scoring for the first time since the season opening win versus Fort Valley State. Brown Jr. would also get to double digits as a perfect back door cut on a great pass from Green kept the Warhawks at bay as the Blazers were leading 80-61 with 13:19 left in the game. Hart wanted to takeover midway through the second half as he scored eight straight points for VSU as the lead was back up to 24 with just under 11 minutes to play. Valdosta State would go one yet another run as it was 10-0 this time over a 1:38 stretch to balloon the lead to 96-68 with 8:59 left as it was just a matter of when not if for the VSU victory.
 
It was a lot of trading baskets as Valdosta State would emerge with a 114-94 victory on Thursday night at The Complex.