MONTGOMERY, Ala. - The Valdosta State men's basketball team came from behind in the final minutes of Saturday's thrilling Gulf South Conference showdown with Auburn-Montgomery to claim a 94-92 win and give Head Coach Mike Helfer his 250th career victory at Valdosta State.
The win improved No. 9 ranked VSU to 23-2 overall and lifted the Blazers to 16-1 in Gulf South Conference play. Valdosta State has now won 16 straight, which matches a 1961-62 mark for the most consecutive wins ever recorded in a single season by the program. The loss for AUM dropped the team to 9-16 overall and 5-12 in conference play.
With 11 three-pointers in the first half, the Blazers led by as many as 10 points before intermission. The Warhawks were resilient, however, and slowly chipped away in the second half with a 17-10 run over the first six minutes of the final period.
Auburn Montgomery overtook the Blazers at the 10:44 mark and extended their lead to as many as eight points two different times in the final 10 minutes of regulation, but the Blazers began their miraculous comeback with a clutch three ball by Winston Morgan at the 2:25 mark. The shot marked one of six for the junior and pulled VSU to within four, and Clay Guillozet matched Morgan on VSU's ensuing possession with his second three-pointer of the contest to cut AUM's lead to 92-91. After a missed three by Warhawk guard Michael Bryant, Guillozet hauled in the defensive rebound and set up Morgan for the game winner, a triple from the left wing with 31 seconds to play.
Auburn Montgomery missed an attempt by Reagan Eubanks for the game winner, and after a steal by the Warhawks, Eubanks misfired again on a game-tying attempt from close range as time expired.
The Blazers buried 19 threes on 41 attempts in the game for 46.3 percent, and Beau Justice gave the Blazers a team-high 21 points on 8-of-15 from the field with five threes. Guillozet, Morgan, and Jimmy Kodet added 19,18, and 13, respectively, and KJ James led the rebounding effort with nine in the game.
Justice is now just 16 points away from the 1,000th of his career.
The Blazers will aim to keep the streak alive with a tough road matchup next Wednesday at Montevallo, where the Blazers will tip off at 9:00 p.m. EST in Montevallo, Ala.
