VALDOSTA —
The season-long struggles for the Valdosta State men’s basketball team hit an all-time high Thursday night, as the Blazers were blown out by sixth-ranked Alabama-Huntsville, 87-65 at the P.E. Complex.
“It was just a knockout punch from the beginning,” Valdosta State head coach Mike Helfer said. “Give (Alabama-Huntsville) a lot of credit for where they are. They are in the hunt for the league lead and they are a great program. They did what they had to do from the start, which was take control of the game.”
Being on the road didn’t affect the Chargers, who shot an impressive 60 percent (31 of 52) from the floor and an even more impressive 56 percent (14 of 25) from three-point range.
The Chargers were led by junior guard Jaime Smith, who recorded 25 of his 30 points in the first half, and senior Srdjan Boskovic, who finished with 18 points. Senior guard Josh Magette finished with 10 points and nine assists.
For the Blazers, Will Alston led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds, while Mike Holloway finished with 10 points.
The Blazers were without senior guard Sidney Harris, who was suspended indefinitely prior to the game. Harris led the Blazers in scoring throughout his 15 contests this season.
The Chargers came out on fire, taking a quick 14-4 lead within the opening 3 1/2 minutes of play, connecting on five of their six shots (4 of 5 from 3-point range). Smith had the hottest hand of them all, as he connected on three deep balls during the run.
Smith’s hot hand continued, as he connected on six of nine three-pointers in the opening half, helping UAH take a 48-28 lead at intermission.
“It has happened to us before, where a guy gets on a roll like that,” Helfer said. “There is nothing you can really do. He is a great player and they do a lot of things to get him shots and get him in position to score.”
Along with Smith, the Chargers, as a unit, were hot from the floor, shooting 67 percent in the opening half, while Valdosta State shot just 41 percent from the floor (13 of 31).
While Alabama-Huntsville managed nine free throws in the opening half, the Blazers were sent to the line just five times. It wasn’t until the 1:55 mark of the half when VSU recorded its first attempts of the game.
In the half, the Chargers’ lead got as large as 24 following a Smith free throw with 4:08 to play.
“From that point in time, you realize that you are in trouble and in the second half you have to play for some pride,” Helfer said. “It would have taken a miracle for something to happen, but we are never going to get down on our players. I don’t want them to get down on each other. We just have to build something in a couple of weeks and try to do something in tournament play.”
In the second half, the Chargers continued the hot shooting, re-extending their lead into the 20-point range just four minutes into the half. Boskovic drilled two 3-pointers to help the Chargers re-build their lead.
From there, the Chargers continued to pile it on, building a lead as large as 27 points, as Magette and Boskovic started to take the game over. Magette, the conference’s all-time leading assist leader, recorded eight of his 10 points down the stretch, while also feeding the ball to teammates for strong finishes.
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Valdosta State’s Will Alston (3) goes up for a jump shot during Thursday night’s loss to sixth-ranked Alabama-Huntsville at the P.E. Complex in Valdosta. The Blazers lost the game 87-65. Ed Hooper | The Valdosta Daily Times
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No. 6 Chargers rout Valdosta State, 87-65
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