Valdosta State guard Jacolbey Owens (1) puts up a shot against West Alabama Jan. 7 at The Complex.

VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State men’s basketball team returns home to The Complex for the first time since Jan. 21 to host the Argonauts of West Florida. The Blazers are coming off a perfect weekend defeating Christian Brothers 86-73 last Thursday night and Union in a 103-102 thriller last Saturday afternoon.

The Blazers enter at 16-9 overall and 12-7 in Gulf South Conference play while West Florida sits at 12-11 overall and 8-11 in league play. UWF hoisted a five-game winning streak that was snapped last Saturday in a narrow 67-66 loss at Christian Bros.

Fans can access links to live stats, audio/video streaming, ticket information and more at vstateblazers.com on the men’s basketball schedule page. The game will also be broadcast on the radio in Valdosta on 92.1 WDDQ FM and www.talk921.com with Mike Chason having the call.

The Blazers are currently fifth in the league standings at a 12-7 mark as Lee, West Georgia, Alabama Huntsville, and West Alabama sit atop the league standings. So far, every team above the Blazers in the standings have clinched a spot in the GSC Championship tournament while Valdosta State, Union, Auburn Montgomery, West Florida, Mississippi College and Montevallo are on the outside looking in.

VSU dropped the first matchup against the Argonauts this season at West Florida on Dec. 18, 2022 to a narrow 82-78 score. The game remained a close affair in its entirety as the game featured four lead changes and nine score ties. Valdosta State held a narrow lead until the Argos made a pair of free-throws at the 6:22 mark in the second half to go up by 1, 72-71. From there UWF edged out the Blazers on a 10-7 run to close out the game and gave the Argonauts a slender 82-78 victory heading into the holiday break.

This season, the Blazers lead the GSC in scoring offensively, scoring 86.3 points per game for 12th nationally. VSU is also first in team field goal percentage shooting 48.9 percent for 25th nationally, while it is second in the conference in team three-point field goal percentage at 37.3 percent. Valdosta State is second in the GSC in a turnover margin at a 3.68 clip for 21st nationally while it is first in the GSC and 36th nationally in turnovers forced per game at a 16.0 clip.

Individually, Blazer senior Jacolbey Owens is ninth in the GSC in scoring, averaging 16.1 points per game while also being second in assists per game at a 6.0 clip for 13th nationally. Redshirt senior Cam Hamilton is second in the conference in steals per game at a 1.84 clip for 47th nationally while Owens sits at third in the league at 1.8 per game.

Senior Mohamed Fofana is fourth in the GSC in individual field goal percentage shooting 126 of 235 (.536) for the season. Blazer graduate student Maurice Gordon is fifth in the GSC in blocks averaging 1.2 per game while junior Jay Rucker is sixth with 1.1 blocks per game. Head Coach Mike Helfer is in his 18th season at the helm of the Blazers and is 347-171 at VSU, while he is in his 26th season of coaching overall and is 533-254 all-time.

West Florida enters the week winners of five of its last ten and is under the direction of Jeff Burkhamer, who is in his eighth season as the head coach of UWF. Burkhamer is 118-96 with the Argonauts and is 4-12 against VSU. The Blazers currently hold the advantage in the all-time matchup with the Argos with VSU winning 31 of the last 43. VSU is 10-2 when hosting the Argonauts at home.

For UWF, LaTrell Tate leads the Argos in scoring and is seventh in the conference, averaging 16.5 points per game while Daniel Sofield is fourteenth in the conference in scoring, averaging 14.4 points per game. Jejuan Weatherspoon leads the team in rebounds, bringing down 5.1 rebounds per game. Wendell Matthews leads the team in blocked shots with one a game for seventh in the conference.

Following the matchup on Saturday, the Blazers will host a pair of games at The Complex next week with Montevallo on Feb. 16 at 8 p.m. and Auburn Montgomery on Feb. 18 at 4 p.m.