MONTEVALLO, Al. — The No. 20 Blazers dropped Friday's matchup against Montevallo by a final score of 97-93.
VSU (9-4, 9-4 Gulf South Conference) saw Guardian Bank Player of the Game Cam Hamilton drop 25 points, shooting six for 11 (.545) from the field with four balls from deep. The redshirt-junior brought down one rebound along with dishing out one assist. Imoras Agee, Jacolbey Owens, and Burke Putnam all finished in double figures.
The Falcons (4-2, 4-2 GSC) were led by 18 points from junior forward Latrell Carter who shot seven for 12 from the field (.583). The Falcons finished with six players in the double digits for points while shooting 74% from the free throw line.
The Blazers were able to get on the scoreboard first off a deep three from Mohamed Fofana but the Falcons answered just 20 seconds later with one of its own. After a good ball from beyond the arch from Montevallo to put the team up 8-5, the Blazers struggled to even the score for the next 13 minutes where its deficit was as large as nine with a little less than half to play. Jeremy Golson was able to stop the Falcons short run and a few points from the Blazers made it a one-point game with five minutes to play. Owens ignited the flame with a three ball to make the score 32-31 in favor of the Falcons, but the Blazers would go on a much needed 12-0 run with key buckets from Putnam. The Falcons were able to get a pair of points to end the run, and make it a four-point game, but a layup and foul from Owens was good as time was winding down to give the Blazers the 43-36 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Blazers were outshot by the Falcons in the first 20, going 16 for 32 from the field (.500) where the Falcons shot 14 for 27 (.519). Montevallo also had the edge in three-pointers, going five for 11 (.455) from deep compared to the Blazers who went four for 12 (.333) from beyond the arch. The Blazers controlled the boards with a +3 margin and brought down three more offensive rebounds than the Falcons. VSU was able to score nine of its points off turnovers as well as recording 24 of its points from the paint.
The Blazers held on to its lead until the 12:25 minute mark when a Montevallo jumper put the Falcons up 55-54. A Hamilton three gave the Blazers the lead but the Falcons answered with one of its own. The Falcons went on a 10-0 run to pull ahead by nine but the Blazers were able to put an end to it and cut its deficit to five after a ball from beyond the arch from Agee. The Falcons were able to pull ahead by ten and keep up its pressure as time was dwindling down. With a minute left, the Blazers were able to make it a one-point game off a layup from Owens but the Falcons were able to seal the game with a few free throws to give the Blazers its fourth loss by a score of 97-93.
The Blazers got outshot by the Falcons, going 30 for 65 (.462) from the field while sinking eight threes, while the Falcons shot 29 for 56 (.518) with 10 deep balls. The Blazers saw the charity stripe 31 times and made 25 baskets (.806) and finished with a -3 rebounding margin. VSU saw 32 of its points come off the bench along with 42 coming inside the paint.
VSU is set to faceoff against Montevallo again tomorrow at 3 p.m. EST. Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the men's basketball schedule page.
