CAROLLTON, Ga. – Despite a host of injuries suffered by the Valdosta State men’s basketball team this week, the Blazers took West Georgia to overtime in front of a crowd of 3,782, before falling to the Wolves 84-79 in Gulf South Conference play in The Coliseum in Carrollton, Ga. on Saturday evening.

The Blazers trailed the contest 45-37 at the half and fell behind by as many as 17 points with 13 minutes to go in the second half. Valdosta State used a 16-8 run over the next eight minutes, however, to close the gap to seven points, and outscored the Wolves 11-3 in the final four minutes to force an overtime period.

In overtime, the tightly contested matchup continued to a 79-79 gridlock with 1:29 to play, before Iakeem Alston hit a layup to give UWG a two point lead. The Blazers were unable to score in the final minute, while the Wolves added to their lead with three additional free throws.

Blake Justice led the way for Valdosta State with 20 points, while Chris Longoria added 18 points and Josh Lemons poured in 15. Jeremiah Hill rounded out the leading scorers with 13 points for a team that gave the Wolves a run without their starting forward Saadiq Muhammad, who suffered an injury on Thursday night in Livingston, Ala.

The Blazers shot 43.8 percent in the contest and hit nine threes, but Deontre Brown delivered a game-changing effort for UWG with 20 points on an 8-of-16 performance from the field. Brown used the help of Alston’s 14 points and Jovany Austin’s 13-point night to cap off a team effort in which the Wolves connected on 33-of-66 from the field for 50.0 percent.

With the loss, Valdosta State fell to 16-10 overall and 12-9 in the conference, while West Georgia solidified their position in second place with an 18-8 overall record and a 15-6 stint in GSC play.

The Blazers will enjoy some time off next week, before closing out their regular season schedule in Pensacola, Fla. next Saturday for a key matchup against the West Florida Argonauts at 5:00 p.m. EST.