VALDOSTA –– The Valdosta State Blazers (8-2, 1-1 Gulf South Conference) held on to escape with a 139-135 triple-overtime victory against the Montevallo Falcons (6-6, 1-2 GSC) on Saturday night.

In a game that saw 37 combined 3s, 56 personal fouls, 12 players reach double-figure scoring and the Falcons coming back from a 15-point second-half deficit, the Blazers were able to pick up their first GSC win of the season.

The game’s first crucial point came down the stretch of the first overtime period. With the shot clock winding down, the Falcons’ Jamaar Taylor looked to draw a foul on the Blazers’ Clay Guillozet. Guillozet stayed vertical, Taylor contorted his body, leaned around Guillozet to hit an off-balance 3-pointer just before the shot clock expired to put the Falcons ahead 113-109 with 12 seconds left. Many fans headed for the exits, believing Taylor’s desperation 3 was the dagger. 

On the ensuing possession, Guillozet missed a 17-foot jumper that caromed into the hands of KJ James who drew a foul on the Falcons’ Tyler Brough.

James made the first free throw and missed the second intentionally. The ball ricocheted off the right side of the rim and looked to be recovered by the Falcons’ Chris Williams. Williams lost the ball on the rebound out of bounds with 2.3 seconds left in the first overtime.

Down three, with shooters Winston Morgan and Beau Justice heavily covered, the Blazers found Greg Zuppas deep in the right corner in front of the Blazers’ bench. Zuppas caught and fired, fading out of bounds as the shot found the bottom of the net, tying the game at 113 and forcing a second overtime.

In the second overtime, James hit a cutting Zuppas in the lane for a layup to put the Blazers ahead 118-115 with 2:47 left. On the next Montevallo possession, Falcons guard Deshawn Jones buried a 3 from the wing to tie the game at 118.

Having made seven 3s prior, Winston Morgan, playing with four fouls, caught a pass from Guillozet in the left corner. The 6-foot Morgan uncoiled a 3 over the outstretched arms of 6-foot-7 Juilo Guity to put the Blazers ahead 121-118 with 2:03 to go.

Shortly thereafter, Morgan was whistled for an illegal screen, disqualifying him from the contest. Frustrated at the call, Morgan slammed his fist into a seat on the Blazers’ bench.

Following a missed 3 by Zuppas, Guillozet dug out the offensive rebound and scored to give the Blazers a 123-119 lead with 10 seconds left. Taylor came down and bagged another 3 from the left wing while falling to the court, cutting the VSU lead to one. Justice split a pair at the free throw line to make it 124-122 with 6 seconds left in the period.

Williams responded for Montevallo, navigating his way to the rim for an off-balance layup to tie the game at 124 with 4 seconds left. Justice looked to find space to shoot but had the ball stolen away by Jackson as the buzzer sounded, sending the game to the decisive third overtime period.

In the third overtime, the Blazers leaned on its seniors as Jimmy Kodet opened the overtime period with a 3. Following a layup by Williams, James answered with a 3 of his own to put VSU ahead 130-126. On the next Montevallo possession Jones shook off Zuppas to hit a tough pull-back jumper to bring the Falcons within two.

James added a pair of free throws to extend the Blazers lead to four with 2:05 remaining. Refusing to go away, Williams dished his seventh assist to Jackson for a layup to make it a two-point game, 132-130.

On the next Blazers’ possession, Kodet drilled another 3 from the left corner to put the Blazers up 135-130. Once again, the Falcons found an answer as Taylor dropped his fifth 3-pointer of the night to cut the VSU lead to 2 with 1:10 to go.

A miss by Guillozet on the next possession stayed with the Blazers as Zuppas beat the Falcons to the loose ball, allowing Helfer to call for time with 40 seconds left.

The Blazers ran some clock before getting the ball to Justice. With Williams on his hip, Justice dribbled to the left wing, evading Williams’ reach to hit a leaning jumper to make a 137-133 game with 20 seconds left in the third overtime.

After a missed 3 by Taylor, Zuppas added two at the free throw line to ice the game with 9.1 seconds. Taylor’s layup with 3 seconds left was too little, too late as the Blazers escaped with the victory.

A layup by Justin McBride put the Blazers ahead 76-64 with 12:30 to go in the game. However, the Falcons stormed back with a 12-2 run over the next 2:24, capped by a Chris Williams 3 to cut the Blazers’ lead to 78-76 with 10:06 remaining in regulation.

The Blazers opened the second half with a 13-2 run as Morgan and Kodet combined to make three 3-pointers to open up a 63-48 lead with 17:14 to go in the game.

The Blazers held a slim 50-46 lead over the Falcons at halftime. 3-point shooting made much of the difference in the first 20 minutes as the Blazers knocked down 10-of-18 treys, led by a perfect 5-for-5 performance by Winston Morgan.

Despite the Blazers’ 3-point barrage, the Falcons managed to stay close. A 3 from Jimmy Kodet put the Blazers ahead 34-27 with 6:30 remaining in the half. The Falcons responded with back-to-back 3s from Tyler Brough to cut the Blazers’ lead to one, forcing Helfer to call timeout.

The Blazers shot a shade under 58 percent from the floor in the first half and finished at 57 percent for the game. The Blazers matched a season-high, going 20-for-38 from beyond the arc.

Morgan scored a season-high 24 points for the Blazers, burying 8-of-10 from beyond the arc. Morgan hit his first seven 3s before missing. Justice matched Morgan with 24 of his own to go along with four assists in 49 minutes. Kodet poured in a career-high 21 points and matched a career-best with five 3s in nine attempts.

KJ James put together a well-rounded effort with 19 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks in 43 minutes. Zuppas and McBride scored 14 each and combined for 11 rebounds as Zuppas played a season-high 35 minutes in the victory. Sophomore Clay Guillozet flirted with a triple-double as he scored 11 points, dished a career-high nine assists (with one turnover) and grabbed seven rebounds in 42 minutes.

The Falcons made 12 of their 17 3-pointers in the second half and the three overtime periods, going 17-of-34 from long range in the game. Overall, the Falcons shot 51.1 percent and made 28-of-32 free throws.

In Taylor’s career-high 40-point performance, the senior from Milwaukee made 14-of-28 shots from the floor, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range and a perfect 7-of-7 at the free throw line. Taylor also found time to grab eight rebounds in his 49 minutes for the Falcons.

Chris Williams played all 55 minutes for the Falcons on Saturday, scoring 36 points on 9-of-21 shooting and made 17-of-19 free throws. The junior from Denver also pulled down 11 rebounds and added seven assists. Tyler Brough knocked down 7-of-11 triples en route to a 21-point night while Zach Jackson chipped in with 13 and Deshawn Jones added 12 in the loss.

UP NEXT

The Blazers host the West Alabama Tigers on Monday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.