Adam MacDonald
The Valdosta Daily Times
VALDOSTA — SOUTHAVEN, Miss. — On Saturday, the Valdosta State Blazers found out that Arkansas Tech is the real deal.
The Wonder Boys, ranked No. 2 in Division II, completely shut down the Blazers in the Gulf South Conference men’s basketball tournament semifinals, winning 57-48 on Saturday at the DeSoto Civic Center.
Arkansas Tech held Valdosta State to a season-low 48 points, 30.9 percent from the field and forced 26 turnovers. VSU All-American Tyrone Curnell was 0 for 10 from the field, and only scored two points, both from the free throw line.
After the game, Blazers head coach Mike Helfer heaped praise on the Wonder Boys, who many figured were the underdog, despite being 27-1 and No. 2 in the nation.
“They’re really good,” Helfer said. “That’s the best team I’ve seen in my five years here, and probably since I’ve been a coach. I was very impressed. They played very poorly offensively, and still dominated the game. That’s a quality of a good team. I think we’re a team that played extremely bad in one game.”
It became apparent early that the two teams were going to be locked in a low-scoring game, even though both teams can produce offense. VSU only had one field goal in the first five minutes of the game. Tech wasn’t much better, but Renard Allen, who buried the Blazers in last year’s GSC title game, scored five straight points to give Tech an early 16-5 lead.
VSU (25-4) never responded the rest of the half. At the end of the half, Tristan Crawford attempted a 3-pointer that would have cut the Blazers’ halftime deficit to six, but it bounced out.
Tech went on a 12-3 run early in the second half, while VSU continued to struggle on offense. Unlike previous games, VSU didn’t get many open looks and couldn’t start a run. At one point, Tech missed a 3-pointer, Curnell grabbed the rebound, but Tech stole it from him right under the basket. Later in the half, Curnell and Christian Hunter converged on a rebound, only to knock it out of bounds and give Tech another shot.
Nothing went VSU’s way, and it was all because of Tech’s defensive effort. Helfer said VSU hasn’t seen a defense like Tech’s all season.
“Their pressure just turned us over relentlessly,” Helfer said. “We just didn’t handle it at all.”
Relentless was the exact word Tech head coach Mark Downey used to describe his team. Despite being undersized and shooting just 4 of 26 from 3-point range, Downey was impressed with his team’s heart and determination. He added that his team played with a chip on its shoulder after people around the tournament started saying VSU was maybe the best team in the GSC in years.
“These guys just keep proving me wrong, and keep proving skeptics wrong,” Downey said. “It’s fun. It’s so much fun to coach these guys. It’s unbelievable. Just when you think they’re down, they’re back in it.”
Tech will try for its second consecutive GSC title against either Alabama-Huntsville or North Alabama today. UAH and UNA played later Saturday night.
The Blazers, ranked No. 3 in the South Region, will wait to receive an at-large bid to the national tournament. The 64-team national field will be announced on Sunday night.
