Bill Malone | Valdosta State AthleticsValdosta State guard Jeremiah Hill attempts a reverse layup against West Florida on Monday night.

VALDOSTA, Ga. — The Valdosta State Blazers (15-3, 10-2 Gulf South Conference) saw their 20-point lead evaporate late in the second half but rallied past West Florida (11-6, 6-6 GSC) 89-82 on Monday night.

The Blazers looked to have complete control of the game until the Argonauts staged a valiant comeback on the road.

Turnovers and poor shot selection by the Blazers breathed a second wind into the Argonauts as a 3-pointer by guard Marvin Jones drew the Blazers lead down to a single point with 2:20 to play.

Leading 80-79, Blazers guard Jeremiah Hill attacked the basket and drew a foul. Hill’s two free throws gave the Blazers breathing room to calm the storm.

With the Argonauts in striking distance, Josh Lemons picked the pocket of UWF’s DJ Thorpe, who fouled Lemons before he could break away from the play.

Lemons made two free throws and drew a charge on Thorpe with 37 seconds remaining. Thorpe became incensed and charged after an official. The outburst drew two technical fouls and an ejection. Afterward, Thorpe needed to be restrained by teammates.

Hill converted the two technical free throws to put the Blazers up by seven and seal the win.

Bending but not breaking, the Blazers won their seventh straight game, but the final result was too close for comfort for head coach Mike Helfer.

“A lot of credit goes to West Florida,” Helfer said. “For somebody to do that in this environment on the road, in our house, a lot of credit goes to them. We lost our edge and did not play smart and those are things we’ve got to correct before Thursday.”

Jeremiah Hill poured in a game-high 27 points on 8-of-17 shooting and collected four steals in the victory. Josh Lemons was a perfect 7-of-7 from the free throw line and finished with 13 points. Damian Young, Beau Justice and Saadiq Muhammad had 12 points apiece in the contest. Muhammad also grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds, helping the Blazers finish plus-17 on the boards.

“I just feel like if I rebound well, we have a better chance to win every game,” Muhammad said. “I’ve just got to do my part and if everyone does their part, we’ll win.”

The Blazers shot 42.6 percent for the game and just 8-of-31 from beyond the arc. The Argonauts finished at 41.8 percent and made 12-of-27 from 3-point range.

The Blazers extended their lead to 55-35 following back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore Beau Justice with 17:43 remaining to whip The Complex into a frenzy and force the Argonauts to call for time.

The Blazers led 44-32 at halftime behind the play of seniors Hill and Muhammad. Hill had 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting in the first 20 minutes. Muhammad allowed the Blazers to carry a 27-15 rebounding edge into the locker room as he nearly secured a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.

The Blazers shot 46 percent in the first half and held the Argonauts to 38 percent from the floor. The Argonauts knocked down 5-of-10 from beyond the arc.

Marvin Jones led the Argonauts with 16 points, 12 of which coming from behind the 3-point line. DJ Thorpe finished with 13 points before his ejection.

Conference rival West Georgia visits The Complex on Saturday, looking to put a halt to the Blazers’ win streak.

“I expect a great crowd,” Muhammad said. “West Georgia has some good players as well so it’s going to be a war. We’ve just got to prepare and we’ll be all right.”

Added Helfer: “We’ve got to turn the page quick from this game…We’ve got to learn and forget.”

Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.

UWF women 77 

Valdosta State 64

A late comeback attempt fell short as the VSU women (10-8, 7-5 GSC) lost 77-64 to West Florida (15-3, 10-2 GSC) on Monday night.

The Blazers fell behind by 13 points earlier in the game. With shots misfiring for the second straight game, the Blazers went into a trapping pressure defense to junk up the game against the Argonauts.

With the game knotted at 55 in the fourth quarter, Sonya Franklin’s layup with 4:51 to go in the fourth quarter gave the Blazers their first lead since the 9:12 mark of the opening quarter.

The Blazers’ lead was short lived as the Argonauts closed the game on a 22-9 run to claim their fifth straight win.

Argonauts guard Alex Coyne proved to be the difference in crunch time. Coyne ignited the Argonauts’ final push with a 3-pointer and scored 10 points during the run.

The Blazers were plagued once again by failure to convert at the rim against the GSC-leading visitors. The Argonauts outscored the Blazers 32-20 in the paint and held the Blazers to 29.4 percent shooting in the game.

“We’ve had some struggles in the second halves with scoring droughts,” Kuhns said. “I think we’re getting closer to playing a 40-minute game. We played our butts off for 35 minutes and I think our legs were a little bit dead that last five minutes.

“(UWF) took advantage of a couple missed opportunities. They hit their open shots and we missed our open shots. We were about a possession or two away from being in that game and we’ve just got to continue to get better.”

Coyne’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer banked in to give the Argonauts a 39-31 lead at the half. The Argos shot 42.4 percent and out-rebounded the Blazers 24-20 in the first half. The Blazers were dismal from the floor in the first 20 minutes, missing 24 of their 33 field goal attempts.

After shooting 11-of-20 from the free throw line against Mississippi College on Saturday, the Blazers shot 11-of-12 in the first half to remain in striking distance.

The Blazers finished 17-of-18 from the free-throw line in the contest.

Coyne poured in a game-high 19 points to pace the Argonauts. Forwards Katie Bobos and Toni Brewer each notched double-doubles as the duo combined for 25 points and 26 rebounds in the win.

The Blazers got 14 points and eight rebounds from Kenya Samone’ Dixon. Madi Mitchell added 13 points and Aaliyah Cheatham chipped in with 12 points and five rebounds for the Blazers, who dropped their second straight game.

“It’s a completely different focus for us,” Kuhns said of West Georgia. “They play zone for 40 minutes so those same shots we got tonight, we’re going to have to be able to hit open shots and finish inside.”

The Blazers wrap up their five-game home stand against West Georgia on Thursday. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.