BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Valdosta State Blazers stunned the Montevallo Falcons in an 81-79 thriller as senior Carlos Hart drilled a jumper with 2.3 seconds left to send the Blazers to the Gulf South Conference Championship for the first time since 2021 as they will face the top seeded Alabama Huntsville Chargers tomorrow at 4 p.m. ET.
 
After trailing 78-71 with 3:43 left in the game, VSU would finish the game on a 10-1 run that was capped off by great defense in the last defensive possession to force a shot clock violation that set up Hart's game winner.
 
After only playing five minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Carlos Hart would go ballistic in the second half as he would finish with 19 points and six rebounds while poking away at two steals on 8-15 from the field. Drew Mills scored all 15 of his points in the first half as he had 15 on 5-10 from the floor and led the team in rebounds with nine. Montevallo's Brandon Fussell led all scorers with 28 points as the guard shot 9-20 from the floor and 4-7 from long range. As a team, VSU outshot UM .460 to .418 and won the rebounding battle 41 to 36. As usual, Valdosta State dominated the fast break as they outpaced Montevallo 22-7 while the Falcons won the turnover battle 15 to 16 which is something that doesn't happen much for the Blazers.
 
The Blazers now need to look ahead to the Chargers who are currently riding a 29 game winning streak which is the longest active streak in Division II as they swept VSU in the season series.
 
Valdosta State is making their eighth GSC Championship appearance as they are 1-6 in team history with their only win coming back in 2021 when they defeated Alabama Huntsville by a final of 75-70.
 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Head coach Mike Helfer ran out the usual starting lineup of MJ Jones, Braxton Williams, Carlos Hart, Cobey Harraway, and Drew Mills at the Pete Hanna Center.
 
Valdosta State would start the game on a 7-2 run as VSU had two early steals. Montevallo would end the run as Brandon Fussell converted on an and one three as the Blazers held a 7-6 advantage. Drew Mills would knock home a right wing three with the Blazers holding an early 14-8 advantage heading to the first media timeout as the clock read 15:36.
 
Both teams were scrapping coming out of the media break as neither team would score in over four minutes of game action until Derek Moore hit a free throw to end the drought. Lucas Brown Jr. would drill a triple form the right wing to send us the second media timeout with a 17-11 lead.
 
A foul from Chigano would send Montevallo to the free throw line for the final 10:50 left in the first half. The Falcons would jump ahead 19-17 on a quick 8-0 that was silenced for the moment with a mid-range jumper from Mills as he had nine early points to lead all scorers. UM would have their largest lead of the game so far at three the Blazers had eight early turnovers with Montevallo leading 24-21 heading to a timeout.
 
Maalik Leitch would come out the break with a three pointer that was quickly negated with Brandon Fussell's second triple as UM led 27-24. Drew Mills would continue to take over as he was up to 13 points and also led the team in rebounds with five. Fouls continued to be the issue as VSU was up to 11 with 5:10 left in the first half. Valdosta State would jump ahead 34-33 with four minutes left as LaDarrius Chigano would slam one home to send us to final media timeout of the first half.
 
Montevallo's Jaylen Curry would flush one home with two hands to give the Falcons the led yet again until Chigano tossed one in with the right hand. UM would make it 37-36 with a second chance basket. The Falcons would end the half on a 7-1 run as Montevallo would head into the locker room with a 45-39 lead.
 
Drew Mills led all scorers with 15 points on 5-8 from the floor and 1-1 from distance. Montevallo's Brandon Fussell led the Falcons in with 14 points on 3-5 from deep while picking up three steals. VSU shot 14-34 from the floor for a .412 clip while UM was 15-36 for a .417 percentage.
 
The Falcons open the second half with a 50-43 lead until the Blazers came back with a quick 4-0 run to make it 50-47 until Jaylen Curry scored on a second chance basket to grow it back five. Carlos Hart would score four straight himself that was capped off by an and one to send us to the media break with a chance to tie the game.
 
Hart would drill the free throw to tie things at 52 coming out of the media timeout. Both teams would start trading blows as Montevallo held a 58-57 advantage with just over 12 minutes left. Montevallo freshman Camden Andrews would step into a three to extend the lead to four. Coming out of the media break, MJ Jones would step into a three that would hit the back iron but drop in as it was back to a one possession game. Montevallo's Brandon Fussell would score four straight until yet another Valdosta State turnover would give the Falcons a six point lead at 67-61 with 9:15 left in the half.
 
Tony Green Jr. would drill a pair of free throws with 7:26 left as VSU was in the double bonus for the rest of the way. Carlos Hart would poke away at a steal on the defensive end and was immediately fouled where he knocked home a pair of free throws to make it a three point game. After a defensive stop, Braxton Williams would corral an offensive board and finish with a and one as the game was all tied at 69.
 
The Falcons would take a 78-71 lead on a 7-0 run with 3:43 left as the Blazers were running out of time. Hart tried to do it himself with an and one inside as Montevallo's third leading scorer Derek Moore fouled out. Following Hart's missed free throw, VSU scrambled for a ball and was able to get to the line where they knocked down a free throw as they trailed 78-74 with 2:21 left in the contest. MJ Jones would pick off a backcourt and throw it up to Hart and raced down the floor for a layup to cut it to a two point game. Following yet another stop, Braxton Williams got loose in transition and drilled a triple in the right corner to take a one point lead. Following a made free throw from the Falcons to tie things at 79, Hart missed a layup and gave the Falcons the ball with 49.4 left in the game.
 
After the Blazers were able to force a shot clock violation that gave them the ball with 22 seconds left and a chance to send them to their first finals appearance since 2021. Coming out of the Helfer timeout, Carlos Hart held the ball just past halfcourt and let the time tick off and with seven seconds left he drove to the right, stopped, and pulled up for a deep midrange shot that was pure nylon with 2.3 seconds remaining. Brandon Fussell was able to get a decent look just past the three point line but it was just left as Valdosta State stunned Montevallo in a 81-79 thriller.