Saturday, March 6

9:17–With the Valdosta State losses today, the ladies falling to Delta State and the men falling to Arkansas Tech, that concludes the trip to Southaven, Miss. for the VSU crew. Tomorrow morning the teams, cheerleaders, team personel and media members will pack the buses, vans and cars/trucks and will make the 10 hour treck back to a much warmer south Georgia. I would like to thank all the readers this week for picking the Spectator as your source for VSU athletics coverage and I hope that you continue to come back to us for your VSU sports coverage.
Both VSU teams will find out tomorrow (Sunday) night if, in the case of the Lady Blazers, and where they will be playing in the South Regional tournament, which begins on Mar 13. The Spectator will have the coverage at VSUspectator.com.

8:18–Final. VSU falls to Ark Tech 57-48. More to come.

8:06–ATU has extended their lead to 12, 52-40, with 3:52 to play in the game. On the floor for VSU: Hunter, Nelson, Crawford, Curnell and Crawford.

8:01–Timeout ATU. Blazers down 48-38. Teams have exchanged two point plays, as Tyrone Curnell found the scoreboard on two free-throws, and both teams have swapped 3-pointers. 5:25 to play from the Desoto Civic Center.

7:55–Media Timeout. Blazers trail 43-33 with 7:18 left to play. Curnell is still scoreless while Crawford and Nelson still lead the team with eight points. Blazers are currently on a 8-2 run.

7:48–Media Timeout. Blazers trail 41-27. Ryan Nelson and Tristan Crawford each have eight points, which leads VSU.

7:42–Blazers trail 35-22 with 14:19 left to play. All-American Tyrone Curnell is back on the bench with 0 points.

7:38–Media Timeout. Blazers down 31-22. In the first four minutes and two seconds of the half, both teams have scored just one basket each.

7:18–Halftime. Blazers trail 29-20, with their only lead coming withing the opening minute and half. VSU has been down as many as 11 points. VSU is shooting just 25 percent from the floor (7-28) while ATU is shooting 37.5 percent (9-24). VSU has committed 16 turnovers while ATU has committed just six. The only category VSU leads is the rebounds. VSU is outrebounding ATU 24-12 at the half. Ryan Nelson and BJ Diblle lead VSU in scoring with six points, while All-American Tyrone Curnell has been held scoreless.

7:08–Timeout VSU. Arkansas Tech on a current four point run, all of which came within 11 seconds of eachother. On the floor for VSU after the timeout: Harris, Hunter, Crawford, Lewis and Dibble.

7:05–Media Timeout. Blazers trail 22-16. A Tristan Crawford 3-pointer ended a three and a half minute scoreless draught for VSU. All-American Tyrone Curnell has 0 points with two fouls. He is currently on the bench.

6:56–Media Timeout. The Blazers have made the ATU lead seven points, 20-13. VSU is shooting 23.8 percent while ATU is shooting 43.8 percent. Ryan Nelson leds VSU with six points.

6:46–Media Timeout. Blazers trail 14-5 to ATU. VSU is shooting just 14.3% (2-14) while ATU is shooting 55.6% (5-9) and 2-4 from 3-point range while VSU is 0-3 from downtown.

6:41–Timeout ATU. Blazers down 9-3 with 14:29 to play in the first half.

6:40–Media Timeout. Blazers trail early 6-3.

6:35–Underway from the Desoto Civic Center for the mens semi-final game. VSU leads 3-2 early.

5:37–The Lady Blazers have fallen to the Lady Stateman of VSU 72-60, which has eliminated VSU from the GSC tournament. Brittany Daniels and Amanda Haven led VSU with 16 points each while Leschelle Matthews added 10 points. VSU finished the day with only 22 rebounds, compared to DSU’s 28. VSU shot 47.7 % from the floor while DSU shot 51.9%. A complete recap of this game to come later. Men set to play at 6:30 E.T.

5:34–The Lady Statesman are 18.6 seconds from securing a trip to the GSC Championship for the fifth straight season as they lead the Lady Blazers of VSU 70-58.

5:25–Timeout VSU. Lady Blazers seem to be losing control of the game. A 3-point play from Veronica Walker which was followed by an offensive foul by Amanda Haven have the VSU bench, including head coach Kiley Hill going crazy. Lady Blazers trail 64-53 with 2:24 to play.

5:20–Media Timeout. Lady Blazers trail 59-51 with 3:35 to play. VSU has just two field goals inside the nine minute mark.

5:12–Media Timeout. Lady Blazers trailed 53-47 with 7:36 to play. Brittany Daniels has the hot hand for VSU as she has 16 points on the afternoon. It will be VSU ball after the timeout with 11 seconds on the shot clock.

5:04–Timeout VSU. Lady Blazers just brought the DSU lead to five, however two straight baskets by DSU has the lead back at ninee points, 51-42 with 11:15 to play.

5:00–Timeout Delta State. Lady Blazers trail 47-40 as Brittany Daniels had just completed a three point play for VSU. Daniles has eight points in the half. On the court for VSU out of the timeout: Daniels, Nixon, Hartry, Haven and Matthews.

4:54–Media Timeout. Lady Blazers have brought their 14 point halftime deficit to just nine points, 46-37. Brittany Daniels and Leschelle Matthews have five points each in the half.

4:50–Lady Blazers down 42-32 as Brittany Daniels has five points for VSU in the half.

4:30–Halftime. Lady Blazers trail 39-25 as DSU ended the first half on a commanding 17-5 run while included a 3-pointer by Miriam “Mo” Bell with less than three seconds to play. Sarita Cooper has scored 10 of the last 17 for DSU. Only three Lady Blazers have scored a field goal for VSU, while seven Lady Statesman have scored a field goal.
Halftime stats:
Amanda Haven (VSU)- 10 points
Sarita Cooper (DSU)- 13 points
Veronica Walker (DSU)- 10 points
DSU- 15-32 (46.9%) FG
VSU- 10-23 (43.5%) FG
DSU- 7-11 free-throws
VSU- 3-3 free-throws

4:36–Timeout VSU with 2:12 to play in the first half. Lady Blazers face their largest deficit of the day, 10 points (32-22). Sarita Cooper has scored the last six points for DSU while VSU has not scored since the 4:30 minute mark.

4:21–Media Timeout. Lady Blazers down six, 28-22. Lady Blazers went without a field goal for nearly four minutes while DSU went just over two minutes without a field goal. Amanda Haven leads all VSU scorers with 10 points while Veronica Walker leads DSU with 10 points. On the floor for VSU out of the timeout: Haven, Matthews, Thompson, Nixon and Booker.

4:14–Media Timeout. Lady Blazers trail 20-22 to the Lady Statesman. Amanda Haven has the hot hand with eight points for VSU, however has since been taken out of the game. Veronica Walker currently has eight points for DSU. On the floor for VSU out of the timeout: Thompson, Richardson, Matthews, Booker and Daniels.

4:08–Media Timeout. Lady Blazers trail 14-19 to the Lady Statesman. After the timeout Amanda Haven will be at the line to shoot two. Lady Statesman Shameka Russel has the last four points in the game. Currently Brittany Daniels has the hot hand for VSU with six points.

3:57–Media Timeout. Lady Blazers lead 6-5 as VSU got a go ahead basket from Brittany Daniels to take their second lead of the game. On the court for VSU out of the timeout: Jones, Thompson, Nixon, Daniels and Matthews.

3:55–With 16:48 to play DSU and VSU are tied 4-4 as VSU started the game on a 4-0 run.

3:50–We are underway from the Desoto Civic Center as the Lady Statesman have won the tip-off.

3:45–Minutes away from gametime. Both teams are on the court finishing warmups. Lady Blazers look confident. There are definitely more fans from Delta State here than VSU. The same goes for Arkansas Tech, who the men play following the womens game.

3:25–Arkansas Tech has defeated Harding in the first womens semi-final game. Here are some facts about the game:
-Delta State enters the game on an eight game winning streak, their last loss coming on Jan 30 versus Henderson State, while VSU enters the game on a 15 game winning streak with their last loss coming on Dec 30 versus Nova Southeastern.
-DSU holds the all-time series lead 26-4 as VSU head coach Kiley Hill has never defeated the Lady Statesman.
-The game today marks the third straight season that DSU and VSU have met in the GSC semi-final round with DSU winning the past two. (Delta State has won four straight GSC Championships.)
-The two teams met earlier this season at the Complex as Delta State got the win, 54-41.
-This game features the two coaches of the year in the Gulf South Conference, Sandra Rushing-GSC West (DSU) and Kiley Hill-GSC East (VSU).
-Veronica Walker enters the game with the highest shooting precentage in Division II womens basketball. She averages 20.4 PPG and 9.5 RPG, while Sarita Cooper leads the nation in assist per game with 8.8 and Miriam Bell enters the game as the all-time 3-point shooter in DSU history.

2:50–Courtside once again at the Desoto Civic Center. Currently watching the first of four semi-final games today, which features Arkansas Tech Women vs. Harding Women. Currently Arkansas Tech holds a 49-36 advantage over Harding with 9:03 to play.
The mens basketball team is currently at Longhorns steakhouse for their pregame meal, while the ladies are in the locker room preparing for their toughest test of the season in the 8th ranked Delta State Lady Statesman.

12:30 a.m.–Okay so Alabama-Huntsville has defeated Harding and will play North Alabama in the semi-finals, which means atleast one GSC Eastern team will play for the GSC Championship (out of the mens side). So all of the semi-final matchups are set. On the ladies side: Harding vs. Arkansas Tech and VSU vs. Delta State. On the mens side: Alabama-Huntsville vs. North Alabama and VSU vs. Arkansas Tech. Off to bed, more to come tomorrow.

Friday, March 5

8:45–Okay, it has been four hours since I have blogged. The mens basketball team has done a community service project, so have the ladies. Adam MacDonald and I have gotten lost in Memphis Tenn, so did the other car, (they got lost worse than us) on the way to dinner. However, we have made it back safely.
So far today in mens action, VSU, Arkansas Tech and North Alabama have won. Alabama-Huntsville and Harding are set to play in just a few minutes.
Tomorrow all the semi-final games will be played. VSU will play top seeded Arkansas Tech. Arkansas Tech defeated West Georgia 79-60 earlier today, although UWG got within 10 points early in the second half, while the Lady Blazers will play Delta State, who is the most favored team in the tournament. The other games include: Arkansas Tech Women vs. Harding Women, Alabama-Huntsville or Harding Men vs. North Alabama Men.

4:45–Currently VSU men are watching Arkansas Tech handle West Georgia, 42-27. The winner will play VSU tomorrow at 6:45 eastern time.

3:10–FINAL! Blazers win over UAM, 74-61. Curnell leads team with 20 points and 13 rebounds. VSU shot 43 5 from the floor while UAM shot 38 %. VSU shot 52 percent from downtown and 13-20 from the charity stripe. VSU’s largest lead, 21 points, came with 10:33 left to play. More about this game to come in a complete story.

3:05–Media Timeout. Blazers lead is 71-57 with just under four minutes to play. Tyrone Curnell has left the game with four fouls and has been replaced by Marquis Robinson. Curnell has 18 points, while Robinson has 17 points. Curnell leads VSU, and all players, with 13 rebounds.

3:00–Timeout VSU as their lead is 13 points, 67-54. UAM has just scored four points in three seconds as two fouls shot by Jarrell Turner and a stolen inbounds pass by DeAngelo McIntosh made up the short run.

2:53–Media Timeout. UAM starting a comeback until Tyrone Curnell stopped a fast break opportunity of UAM. After which both players were given technical fouls for talking. Blazers lead 64-50 with 7:33 left to play.

2:45–Media Timeout. Blazers hold a 58-38 advantage of UAM. Curnell has a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Marquis Robinson has re-entered the game and has four of VSU’s last six points. Robinson has 14 points. On the floor, out of the timeout, for VSU: Curnell, Belton, Lewis, Robinson and Hunter.

2:35–Media Timeout. Blazers hold their largest lead of the half, 13, 45-32. Ricardo Lewis has left the game with an ankle injury, however does seem as though he will return after a taping job. Tristan Crawford has the hot hand of the half with five points.

2:28–Second half is about to begin. On the court for VSU: Crawford, Dibble, Lewis, Nelson and Curnell.

2:13–HALFTIME at the Desoto Civic Center. VSU holds a narrorw 34-26 lead.
Halftime stats:
Curnell has 13 points with 5 rebounds. Marquis Robinson has 10 points. VSU is shooting 43 percent from the floor and 4-6 from 3-point range and 4-8 from the free-throw line. VSU has 5 turnovers and 4 blocks. Monticello is led by Jarrell Turner who has 8 points. UAM is shooting just 31 percent (10-32) from the floor and 3-10 from 3-point range. UAM has 8 turnovers and six blocks.

2:07–30 second timeout by VSU. The talk on the court is picking up as VSU leads 32-26. Ryan Nelson displaying some nifty moves to rack up the last two points for VSU.

2:03–Media Timeout. Blazers leading 30-26. Curnell leads the team, and all scorers, with 13 points. Blazers are one foul away from being in the double bonus while UAM is still 3 fouls from the bonus. Quick note: The out of bounds that led to the timeout. The ball hit my computer.

1:53–Media Timeout. Blazers hold a 23-18 lead as they scratched together a 7-0 run before a 3-pointer from UAM’s Hamid Ford. 7:49 to play in the half. Head Coach Mike Helfer heated about the amount of traveling calls against VSU.

1:48–Marquis Robinson continues to impress. Robinson has the last eight VSU points as the Blazers hold a 20-15 lead with 9:57 to play in the opening half.

1:44–Media Timout. Blazers lead 16-14, however UAM will have two foulshots coming out of the break. Marquis Robinson has the last four points for VSU, the first that came on an assist from Curnell and another on a miss lay-up by Hunter.

1:41–Timeout UAM as we are tied 12-12. Curnell leads VSU in points with 8 already. On the floor for VSU: Belton, Curnell, Harris, Hunter and Robinson.

1:35–Blazers lead early, 9-8. VSU fell down 6-1, however an 8-0 run which featured Ricardo Lewis and Tyrone Curnell 3-pointers gave VSU the lead 9-6. After this timeout Tyrone Curnell to shoot to foul shots.

1:15–Alright, courtside at the Desoto Civic Center. Both teams have just shot around and have gone back to the locker rooms.
Quick notes and facts about the game:
-The game marks the first game for Blazer guard Kevin Harris in the state of Mississippi since transferring to VSU in January. Harris played his JUCO basketball down the road from the Desoto Civic Center.
-The game marks the second time Blazer guard Ryan Nelson will play his old team, Arkansas-Monticello.
-The game is only the third time the VSU and UAM have met. The teams split the first two meetings. VSU won the last meeting which was last season in the GSC first round.
-The game is the first game since Head Coach Mike Helfer was named Co-Coach of the Year for the GSC East and the first since Tyrone Curnell was named GSC East Player of the Year.

11:00 a.m.–Okay, it is about 10:00 a.m. here in Southaven Miss and the Blazers have completed their shootaround while everyone else from VSU was still asleep (atleast my hotel room was). Currently getting ready to head to the arena about 11:15 local time and get ready for the Blazers versus Boll Weevils of Arkansas-Monticello, who declined to have their shoot around this morning because they wanted their players to rest. There are three other games today for the men: West Georgia vs. Arkansas Tech, Delta State vs. North Alabama and Alabama-Huntsville vs. Harding.
Lady Blazers will be reading to a local school today, as part of there community service project. The ladies will then shoot around and have a short practice to prepare for Delta State, who they will play tomorrow in the semi-finals. The other ladies semi-final game features Arkansas Tech vs. Harding. The Lady Blazers are the only team from the East remaining as West Florida, North Alabama and West Alabama all fell yesterday in the opening round.
According to a player from West Alabama, who i worked out next to this morning, VSU is the third best team in the tournament. This player said they are very close to who she thinks is the second best in Arkansas Tech, however, she feels Delta State is the best team in the tournament. After all, the Lady Statesman are going for their fifth straight GSC Championship.
More to come from the arena before the mens game.

Thursday, March 4

11:55–Okay, so the Lady Blazers will be taking on heavily favored Delta State on Saturday afternoon. Heres what has been going on the last five hours. The mens basketball team hit Applebees for dinner and have been back in the hotel since. They have watched film and just relaxed. They’re expected to be on the road at 7:00 a.m. local time for a shoot around before their game tomorrow with UAM.
The Lady Blazers completed their community service project, which was playing basketball with some local youth players. According to Michelle Thompson “they were just so cute”. The Lady Blazers then watched the first half of the Delta State versus West Alabama game, which was closer than anyone expected, although DSU blew it out in the second half.
After we finally left the arena at 9:30 local time, Adam MacDonald, myself, Josh Flannagin (VSU assistant SID), VSU AD Herb Reinhard and Tom Hughes (Director of Marketing for VSU) grabbed some dinner. We’re back at our hotel and ready to catch some zzzz’s and get ready for a full day of mens basketball at the Desoto Civic Center tomorrow.

7:00–Alright, Arkansas Tech women have defeated West Florida (which was heavily expected). The game was close in the early minutes, however, like good teams do, Arkansas Tech ran away with it. Currently North Alabama is down three points to Harding as West Alabama will face Delta State later on today.
After their win, the Lady Blazers left the arena and headed back to the hotel for showers and food. According to Erin Keller, a first year graduate assistant at VSU, they are doing a community service project sometime tonight.
For the men, the shoot around at Christian Brothers University is complete. We have heard good things about the shootaround. Right now the guys are headed to their hotel and then dinner. Head coach Mike Helfer broke some bad news to them jsut a few minutes ago, they have a shoot around at 7:30 in the morning tomorrow because of the 12:30 tip-off. Right now Dustin Swedelson and Tom Hughes are on the radio doing their Spotlight on Blazer Athletics show which tonight is courtside here at the arena. Guest include Josh Flannigan, the assistant SID for VSU, Adam MacDonald of the VDT and VSU AD Herb Reinhard.

4:30–Okay, Lady Blazers have taken care of Christian Brothers University, 65-49. About to head back into the arena to watch some other games. The men are currently practicing at Christian Brothers University for their game, which will be played tomorrow afternoon against Arkansas-Monticello. Don’t miss Dustin Swedelson and Tom Hughes on Spotlight on Blazer Athletics tonight at 7:00 E.T on Talk 92.1 FM as they will be coming to you live from the Desoto Civic Center. More to come later!

3:17–The Lady Blazers have won their opening round game, 64-49, over Christian Brothers University. The Lady Blazers will play on Saturday against either West Alabama or Delta State, who play tonight. Brittany Daniels led the Lady Blazers with 18 points as Sierra Nixon added 13 points. Leschelle Matthews added nine assists.

3:05–The VSU lead got to as small of eight points, however VSU has since managed three points from the charity strip from Tamika Booker, followed by four straight points by Sierra Nixon and two points by Amanda Haven, while allowing just four points from CBU. The Lady Blaxe4r lead is 13 points, 55-42, with 1:56 to play. The men have left the arena and are making their way to the Christian Brothers University for their practice.

2:54–Lady Blazers lead is to 10 points, 46-36. Sheena DeBose has 21 points on 9-13 shooting from the floor and 3-7 from the charity strip.

2:46–Lady Blazers lead 43-34 with 11:22 left in the game. Sheena DeBose of CBU leads all scorers with 19 points.

2:35–First media timeout of the second half, Lady Blazers lead 40-26, despite allowing a 6-2 run to start the second half. Michelle Thompson eneded that run with a three pointer.

2:12– Lady Blazers lead at the half 35-20.
Halftime Notes:
Brittany Daniels leads VSU with 10 points while Sierra Nixon and Scenzy Hartry have nine points, while Leschelle “Poochie” Matthews has seven first half assist.
VSU has forced 16 CBU turnovers.
CBU has been to the foul line 14 times in the half, while VSU has been only four times.

2:03– Lady Blazers are pulling away as they lead 29-15 with 3:42 to play in the first half.

1:55–Lady Blazers lead 20-11 with 7:38 left in the opening half. Sierra Nixon currently has seven points, while Brittany Daniles has six points. Leschelle Matthews has five assists. VSU is shooting 45 percent, while CBU is shooting 36 percent.

1:45–Lady Blazers lead 11-3 with 11:56 to play in the opening half. Sierra Nixon has the hot hand so far with four points off the bench for the Lady Blazers, while Leschelle “Poochie” Matthews has four assist.

1:35–We are four mintes and five seconds into the game and VSU leads 2-0 as Sczeny Hartry scored with 16:07 left in the half. Time out on the floor, time out media
We are under way from the DeSoto Civic Center.

1:09–Sitting courtside at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven Miss. Currently 15 minutes until gametime. Christian Brothers is on the floor warming up while VSU is still in the locker room. The VSU cheerleaders arrived about 10 minutes ago and are currently stretching. I have to admit, more media members are present than fans, although the arena is very nice.

10:20 a.m.–Good Morning everybody! So here we go, gameday for the Lady Blazers and a practice day for the men. Adam and I just ate breakfast and saw some ladies from UWA around the hotel while Blazers graduate assistant Matt Kuhns is busy doing the Blazers laundry.
More to come from the Desoto Civic Center in about two hours!

Wednesday, March 3

8:35–Okay, VSU sports beat writer Ed Hooper coming to you from Southaven Mississippi which is home to the 2010 Gulf South Conference basketball tournament. After 9 hours and 45 minutes of travel on the highways and backroads of Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, $78 for gas and $24 for food later, Adam MacDonald of the Valdosta Daily Times and I made it to our destination city. Currently we are unpacking in our room at the Fairfield Inn hotel, which the University of West Alabama is also staying at, and getting ready for the womens basketball game tomorrow (live updates all throughout the game, which starts at 1:35 E.T., right here at VSUspectator.com), as the Lady Blazers will take on Christian Brothers University.
Currently the ladies are at their hotel, the Drury Inn, after they have enjoyed an entire day in Southaven in which they took part in a shootaround practice earlier this afternoon. The men are currently still on the road and are expected to arrive here in Southaven at 11:00 p.m. local time. Tomorrow the men will complete a shootaround at the University of Memphis, which is about 20 minutes from Southaven, before attending the ladies game at the Desoto Civic Center. More updates to come, until then good night from Southaven Miss.