MONTEVALLO, Al. — The No. 25-ranked Valdosta State men's basketball team ran its Gulf South Conference-best wining streak to nine games with a hard-fought 68-62 victory at Montevallo on Saturday. VSU senior Clay Guillozet had a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds leading three Blazers in double figures.
VSU improved to 16-3 overall and 10-2 in Gulf South Conference play, while Montevallo fell to 11-9 overall and 7-5 in league play. UM has lost five-straight games.
Blazer senior Bryce Smith led the team with 17 points on 6 of 17 from the field, 3 of 8 from range and 2 of 3 from the line. Senior Darrell Jones added 13 points on 4 of 12 from the field with one triple and he was 4 of 4 from the line, while pulling down eight rebounds. VSU shot just 35.4 percent for the game, but was 8 of 20 from beyond the arc and 14 of 21 from the line.
Montevallo was led by 12 points and 12 rebounds from Wade Lowman leading three Falcons in double figures. Jonas Parker added ten rebounds in the game as both teams finished with 47 rebounds. UM shot just 29.7 percent for the game on 19 of 64, while going 8 of 30 from the field, but stayed close in the game, going 16 of 18 from the line.
VSU used a 9-1 run for a 30-21 lead with 3:33 left in the first half on a triple from Jones. UM answered with a triple of its own and Lowman scored with 44 seconds left to pull the Falcons within 30-28 at intermission.
A trey from Xavier Malcom gave UM its first lead of the game at 33-30 with 18:04 left as the Falcons began the second half on a 5-0 run. VSU then built a 42-35 lead, only to see UM erase the deficit and take the lead again on a triple from Parker at 46-44 with 12:25 remaining.
Jones put VSU up 64-60 with 51 seconds left and added two free throws for a 66-62 lead with 28 seconds left. UM had three looks in the final 22 seconds, but none fell as sophomore Imoras Agee iced the game with two free throws for the 68-62 win.
VSU returns home to host Shorter on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. at The Complex and then will host rival West Georgia on Saturday, Feb. 8 at 4 p.m.
