VALDOSTA — It took just 17 seconds for the Blazers to take the lead Tuesday, and they’d never relinquish it.

Valdosta State (4-0) used a 3-point barrage to bury Coastal Georgia (5-4) in its home opener at The Complex, building a 43-point lead en route to a 121-82 victory.

The Blazers were scorching hot from distance, shooting 20-of-39 from 3 in the contest, just two shy of the school record set against North Alabama in the opening round of last season’s Gulf South Conference tournament.

“We’ve got a lot of guys that can shoot it,” said Winston Morgan, who finished the game with 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting from downtown. “I feel like we emphasize it at practice. We get a lot of shots up.

“Coach emphasizes it. We like to run and get shots up, and guys love to play with each other, so it makes it easy for us.”

A smoldering first half by VSU came to an end when Beau Justice received a pass in transition and pulled up from the 3-point line, sinking the shot at the buzzer to extend the Blazers’ lead to 54-28 going into the half.

Justice’s last-second shot proved to light the fuse that triggered Valdosta State’s second-half explosion.

Morgan splashed a 3 to open the half, and less than three minutes into the period, he hit two more.

The Blazers connected on 13-of-22 3-pointers in the second half, five coming from Labrian Shiflet, who scored a team-high 30 points in the win.

Five different Blazers hit a shot from distance Tuesday, with Morgan, Justice and Shiflet contributing at least five apiece.

VSU head coach Mike Helfer said its the volume of marksmen on the team that makes them so difficult to defend.

“I think what makes 3-point shooting is, you have to have more than one or two,” Helfer said. “You have to have multiple guys, because teams can focus on one or two.

“But when you have five guys out there, or four guys out there, that can shoot the 3 legitimately, it’s hard to figure out what you’re going to do with that group.”

But even when VSU wasn’t camped at the 3-point line, it was scoring almost at will against Coastal Georgia.

The Blazers shot 55 percent inside the arc thanks to easy buckets generated as the Mariners stretched themselves thin to defend the perimeter.

“Even if you’re not making a 3, if you’re on the floor, they have to guard you out there,” Helfer said. “So, it does open up the lane for driving opportunities or for post play.

“That’s going to be something we’re going to have to continue to focus on, because there will be teams that say, ‘Okay, you’re not going to make any 3s. We’re going to stay out on you. You’ve got to beat us off the dribble or beat us in the post.’ That’s what we’re going to have to work on.”

Valdosta State’s rotation features a lot of new faces. Eight of the 11 players to receive minutes against Coastal Georgia are in their first year with the Blazers. Justice and Jimmy Kodet are the only returning players to receive significant minutes on last season’s GSC Tournament championship team.

Yet, five Blazers scored in double figures against the Mariners, and VSU had 24 assists as a team to just six turnovers.

“I think we have a team that’s very unselfish, so we’re going to pass it to the open guy,” Helfer said. “We don’t try to force it. We just find the open guy, pass it to him. That’s what we did tonight, and that led to shots…

“I like our team. We have a long way to go, but I like their unselfishness and their family atmosphere.”

Morgan said the few returning starters have helped preserve that family atmosphere in the locker room as himself and the new players have gotten situated.

“We’ve got returners like Beau Justice and Jimmy Kodet, they really helped us instill in that team effort from last year, and it made it easy on us,” Morgan said.

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