In the opening minutes of Thursday’s game at Spragins Hall, it looked as if Valdosta State would be resigned to watching scoreboards in hopes of catching Alabama-Huntsville for first place in the Gulf South Conference.

By the end of the night, the Blazers, at minimum, guaranteed they’d host a first-round game in the GSC tournament on March 28 at The Complex with a 84-81 overtime victory against the Chargers.

Valdosta State (21-4, 16-3 GSC) earned its 20th win in a season for the first time since the 2010-11 season on Saturday against Christian Brothers. The Blazers won 20 or more games in four out of five seasons leading up to 2010-11, but they’d gone five seasons without hitting the 20-game mark since.

However, the 21st victory of the season was even sweeter because of its significance to VSU.

The Blazers entered the game in second place to the Chargers (19-6, 15-4) in the GSC and the Division II South regional rankings, and No. 25 in the DII Rankings to UAH’s No. 19. Alabama-Huntsville also represented one of just three conference losses for Valdosta State.

The Chargers appeared determined to keep the Blazers in their rear-view mirror in the opening minutes of the contest as they stormed out to a 10-0 lead propelled by hot shooting. UAH was still shooting 70 percent from the field nearly eight minutes into the first half.

“They always start fast in here,” VSU men’s head coach Mike Helfer said in a postgame interview on the Blazers’ radio broadcast of Thursday’s game. “They start fast in this environment for some reason. They started fast tonight, but our guys didn’t really panic.

“Even when I had to call that timeout when it got to 10-0, they weren’t panicked over there because I’ve got some guys that have some battle scars now. Jeremiah (Hill), Josh (Lemons), Saadiq (Muhammad), Justin (Simon), they have some battle scars now coming into places like this, so we were able to bounce back and take control of the game in the first half.”

VSU weathered the storm early before making its run as UAH cooled off. After hitting their first three 3-pointers, the Chargers shot 1-10 from distance the rest of the first half, allowing the Blazers to take their first lead midway through the half.

Leading by eight at the break, the Blazers found themselves in a dogfight with the Chargers for most of the second half as the teams traded buckets.

It looked as if VSU may come up just short late in regulation when Troy Saxton tipped in Seab Webster’s missed 3-pointer to give UAH a lead with less than a minute to play.

The Blazers missed on a pair of opportunities to tie the game, first on a turnover, then on a missed free throw, but with one second remaining, Beau Justice hit on a 3-point jumper that sent the game to overtime tied at 75.

“One thing I told our guys before the game… I said, ‘You know what? When two good teams play each other, people are going to make plays, guys are going to make plays. It’s the team that makes one more play than the other team that’s going to win when you have teams as evenly matched as these were tonight,” Helfer said.

The back-and-forth nature of the game between Nos. 1 and 2 in the GSC continued in overtime, and it was personified in a flurry within final 30 seconds of the game that saw layups from Justice, Hill and UAH’s Kip Owens.

With one possession left to win or send the game into double overtime, Brandon Roberts turned the ball over for the Chargers. Muhammad came up with the steal and fired the ball to the other end of the court to Damian Young who capped the game, and his game-high 20-point night with a dunk in transition.

VSU women 64

UAH 48

Strong defense and rebounding propelled the Valdosta State women to their seventh straight victory Thursday 64-48 against Alabama-Huntsville at Spragins Hall.

The Blazers (17-8, 14-5 Gulf South Conference) held the Chargers (5-19, 4-15) to 34 percent shooting from the field and 20 percent from 3 while dominating them on the boards 50-24, including a 17-4 advantage on the offensive glass.

Maddie Mitchell (17 points, 14 rebounds), Aaliyah Cheatham (17 points, 4-8 on 3-pointers) and Sonya Franklin (15 points) powered Valdosta State in a game it lead nearly wire to wire.

VSU held a 10-point lead at halftime and doubled it over the first six and a half minutes of the third quarter as UAH struggled to score its first points of the second half. The Chargers only scored eight points in the third quarter.

The Chargers fought hard late to cut the Blazers’ lead to 11 with two minutes remaining, but Jazmyn McIntosh grabbed an offensive rebound on the ensuing possession and dished to Mitchell inside for a layup. After a defensive stop, Cheatham delivered a dagger 3-pointer.

Valdosta State led Alabama-Huntsville for all but a minute of game time Thursday as it set tone defensively in the first half.

The Blazers held the Chargers to six points in the first quarter on 2-of-12 shooting while forcing three layups. VSU led 16-6 after the first.

At half, UAH was still shooting just 37 percent from the field, including 14 percent from 3-point distance.

Part of the Chargers’ offensive struggles can be attributed to the Blazers’ work on the defensive boards. Valdosta State held Alabama-Huntsville without a single second-chance point in the first half on just one offensive rebound and four second-chance points on four offensive boards for the game.

The Blazers, on the other hand, built their lead with 22 second-chance points on 14 offensive rebounds through the first three quarters. McIntosh was the primary contributor on the offensive glass, securing seven offensive rebounds in 19 minutes of play.

“She’s really embraced her role,” VSU women’s head coach Carley Kuhns said in a postgame interview on the Blazers’ radio broadcast of Thursday’s game. “She’s a great defender, and she’s that glue kid who can get us a big rebound.

“She had seven offensive rebounds, and those are difference-makers that win you games.”

Derrick Davis is the sports editor at the Valdosta Daily Times.