BIRMINGHAM, Ala – The Valdosta State Blazers fell in the Gulf South Conference Championship to the Alabama Huntsville Chargers on Sunday afternoon with a final of 101-95. VSU was leading 82-81 at the 4:21 mark, but the UAH duo of Blake Campbell and Tommy Murr dominated down the stretch. Alabama Huntsville won their sixth GSC title while Valdosta State dropped to 1-7 in the championship game.
 
The season isn't over for the Blazers, as they are a sure thing for the NCAA South Regional next weekend. The bracket will be released tonight at 11 p.m. ET. To watch the selection show, please click here.
 
Valdosta State had two players named to the GSC All-Tournament Team as the duo of Carlos Hart and Drew Mills proved why they are two of the best. Alabama Huntsville's Blake Campbell was named Player of the Tournament while Tommy Murr was also named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
Carlos Hart scored a game high 29 points which was the most by a Blazer in a GSC Tournament game since Burke Putnam also hit that mark in the 2020 semifinals. Hart was 7-9 from the line and 11-22 from the field as he led the team in rebounds with seven and assists with five. UAH's Blake Campbell led the Chargers in scoring as the guard scored 23 points on 9-14 from the floor while dishing out six assists while not committing a single turnover. Tommy Murr showed why he won GSC Player of the Year as he scored 22 while going a perfect ten of ten from the line.
 
The Blazers went 39-80 from the field for a .488 field goal percentage while the Chargers went 32-60 for a .533 clip. UAH outshot VSU 28-12 from the line as they were fouled 22 times to the Blazers' 14.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After missing their first five shots, the Blazers would get two good looks inside as they would capitalize to take a 5-4 lead. The Chargers would blitz back with an 8-0 run with all buckets coming within ten feet as head coach Mike Helfer called a timeout as the Blazers trailed 12-5 with 15:42 left in the first half.
 
Helfer would make a full five man sub coming out of the break. After VSU got an offensive board, Peter McKey would drill a deep two as the shot clock expired to end the drought. UAH would quickly come down the floor and drill a triple as Luke Burnett made the lackadaisical defense pay. Matt Thurman would come in off the bench and light the Blazers up as he would knock home three triples as he was taking advantage of mismatches with Alabama Huntsville leading 26-15 at the under 12 timeout.
 
Alabama Huntsville was hot from distance early as they were 4-8 from three while Valdosta State was 0-7 from long range as the deficit was single digits at 26-19 with 7:38 left in half number one.
 
UAH would rally out of the break for a 9-2 run as they were getting to line at will with VSU putting the Chargers in the bonus for the final six minutes of the first half as they were 9-11 from the charity stripe what the Blazers were 3-6. MJ Jones hit a deep three pointer that was quickly nullified with a three pointer from Blake Campbell on the left wing. Carlos Hart and Braxton Williams both finished inside with soft touches as they trailed by ten. Luke Burnett drilled a three pointer from the Bulldog logo as the lead had ballooned back to 13 with 2:25 left in the half.
 
For the final 2:14 of the first half, Carlos Hart singlehandedly willed the Blazers to stay withing distance as he ended the half on a 6-0 run as the Chargers led 47-40 heading into the locker rooms. Daniel Saylor was the difference maker for UAH in the first half as the big man had eight points and seven rebounds while making all four free throws as he was shooting .506 from the line coming into this matchup. Carlos Hart had a game high 15 points as he continued that hot second half from the semifinals while he was 5-9 from the field and 5-6 from the charity stripe.
 
Valdosta State would come out of the locker room determined to get back in this game. Drew Mills would finally get a three pointer to drop as the Blazers trailed 51-48 with 16:33 left in the game. The Blazers would jump ahead 54-53 as Hart knocked home a pair of free throws until flamethrower Luke Burnett knocked home a triple to retake the lead at 56-54. McKey would corral his own miss as he ripped the ball away from UAH and laid one in with his right hand to tie things up at 56.
 
It was back and forth as VSU trailed 65-60 until Maalik Leitch would hit a fadeaway jumper with the shot clock ticking down to make it a one possession game. Tommy Murr continued why he is one of the best in the business as he would lay in back to back layups to keep the Blazers at bay with a 69-64 advantage. Following a made layup from Blake Campbell, Braxton Williams drilled a left wing three with a hand in his face as he the Chargers led 73-71 heading to the under eight timeout.
 
Things would stay tight as Mills finished strong inside to cut it to a one score game. After a pair of free throws from UAH's Auston Leslie, Hart would hit another contested jumper as we were under five minutes. With the Blazers in the bonus, Cobey Harraway would knock home a pair of clutch free throws to make things even at 79. Alabama Huntsville's Daniel Saylor would back his way down for two which set up Mills open on the right wing a few seconds later as he would can it for an 82-81 lead with 4:21 left. Tommy Murr would race down the court and finish with an acrobatic layup with head coach Mick Hedgepeth calling a timeout.
 
After a missed triple from Mills, Saylor would finish inside yet again as they were now up three. MJ Jones would respond with a floater from five feet as Mills then stole it from Tommy Murr. With the shot clock ticking down, Williams got a good look from distance as it rattled out with the ball over halfway down. UAH would then go and score four straight in a 1:30 span as VSU couldn't produce good looks. Harraway was able to break the silence with a second chance bucket to cut it to four but a pair of free throws following a VSU miss all but iced the game.