Valdosta State’s Tristan Steele (15) dribbles the ball while being guarded by Augusta State’s O’Neal Armstrong (3) Tuesday night at The Complex.

The Valdosta State Blazers gave fans plenty to cheer about on Wednesday night in a 60-56 victory over the Augusta State Jaguars.

They gave fans a lot to stress about, too.

After dominating for the opening 31 minutes of the basketball game, building a game-high 18-point lead, 53-35, the Blazers (3-2) collapsed, giving way to a strong Augusta State charge. Led by Tye Beal, who started the charge by converting four straight free throws and following it up with two baskets, and Harold Doby, who combined for 17 of the final 21 ASU points, the Jaguars (2-2) charged back, using a 19-3 run to bring the VSU lead to just one basket with 2:13 to play in regulation.

“They are a great team and a great program, so you knew they weren’t going to die,” Valdosta State head coach Mike Helfer said. “It was getting to the point where they had to make a run.”

After the two teams swapped baskets, giving VSU a 58-56 lead, the teams swapped missed baskets and timeouts. Following an ASU foul, which was called on Beal with 34 seconds to play, the Blazers had a chance to nearly ice the game with two Michael Panaggio free throws. The junior guard missed both attempts, though, turning possession back to the Jaguars, who scooped up the loose ball off the missed free throw and managed to earn a jump ball with the possession arrow in their favor.

Fortunately for VSU, strong defensive play made the difference, as Josh Sparks managed a blocked shot before the Jaguars committed their seventh and final turnover of the night. After being fouled, Panaggio had a chance to make up for his two prior misses from the charity stripe. With the opportunity to officially ice the game with four seconds remaining, Panaggio sank both of his attempts, securing the victory for VSU.

VSU won despite being outscored 21-7 to close out the final seven minutes of regulation.

“They turned the heat up on us a little bit there,” Valdosta State guard Tristan Steele said. “We got out of what got us the lead, and we got a little nervous when they started putting the heat on us, and we missed some free throws there at the end.”

Offensively for VSU, Drew Maynard led the way, recording a game-high 16 points. Maynard rattled the rim with several dunks, including a one-handed slam dunk midway through the second half, which brought the VSU faithful to their feet.

“I am going to be honest, I am trying to hurt the rim,” Maynard said of his dunks. “I try to rip it off, but I am just trying to get some momentum going for the crowd and the players. They love that stuff… I am a big body, and I promise you, one of these days, I am going to rip (the rim) off.”

Maynard also made his presence felt defensively, holding Augusta State’s standout freshman guard, Devonte Thomas, to just 3 of 13 shooting on the night (2 of 11 from 3-point range). Thomas accounted for just four points.

Along with the strong play from Maynard, Steele added 12 points, going 4 of 7 from 3-point range, while Chris Rozier added 12 points off the bench.

Valdosta State finished the night shooting 46 percent from the floor, while holding Augusta State to just 30 percent shooting. From the charity stripe, the Blazers were just 12 of 23, missing many key attempts down the stretch, fueling Augusta State’s charge.

“First of all, we have been shooting free throws very well,” Helfer said. “We were 28 of 36 at Albany State last week, on the road, which is a harder task, I think. I don’t think you bring a major issue (to missing free throws). I just think you bring note to it, and say ‘Hey, if you make your free throws, you can keep your lead.’”

The Blazers came out fighting, never trailing the Jaguars in the first half, although the game was tied on two separate occasions. In fact, the Blazers never trailed to the Jaguars throughout the entire game, despite giving up the run late in the game.

Behind a strong shooting performance, the Blazers managed to build a 10-point halftime lead, 34-24. Momentum was on VSU’s side, especially when VSU was pulling away towards halftime. The Complex crowd came to their feet on several occasions, especially behind rim rattling dunks from Maynard and Sparks and behind the key 3-point shooting from Steele, who was 3 of 5 from downtown in the half.

VSU shot an impressive 50 percent from the floor in the first half, while Augusta State shot just 30 percent across the opening 20 minutes of play.

The win on Wednesday night was the first at home for Valdosta State, which fell to Saint Leo in its home opener back on Sept. 15. For Helfer and the Blazers, the loss was a learning point and something that was used to prepare for Wednesday night’s contest with ASU.

“It fed into a lot,” Helfer said. “We talked about it a lot, and I want to thank the fans that came back, because we didn’t feel that the effort we gave a couple of weeks ago was up to the standards of Valdosta State basketball. Tonight, you saw a team that played with great energy and great heart.”

The Blazers will have a chance to avenge their home opening loss to Saint Leo on Saturday, when they visit the Lions for a 4 p.m. tipoff.