Russellville, Ark— The sixth ranked Valdosta State Blazers shocked the Division II basketball tournament on Sunday night when they knocked off No. 1 ranked Arkansas Tech 72-60 at the Coliseum to advance to the South Region Championship on Tuesday night.
VSU jumped out to their fastest start of the season as they connected on their first six field goals, five of which were 3-pointers as the Blazers jumped out to an impressive 17-4 lead.
After their fast start, VSU connected on just three of their next 13 field goal attempts as the Wonder Boys fought back to tie the game at 25-25.
Ryan Nelson ended the draught for the Blazers as he connected on a 3-pointer from the corner that gave VSU the lead 28-25.
Valdosta State finished the first half on a 7-3 run that knitted the Blazers a 35-28 halftime lead. Tristan Crawford led the Blazers with nine points in the opening half as VSU shot 50 percent (13-26) from the floor and 53.8 percent (7-13) from three point range.
Renard Allen led the Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech with seven points in the opening half as ATU shot just 32 percent from the floor, yet were 8-12 from the free-throw line while the Blazers were just 2-3 from the charity stripe.
Turnovers continued to hamper Valdosta State as the Blazers committed 12 opening half turnovers.
Valdosta State limited their turnovers in the second half as they committed just four as they pulled away from the Wonder Boys at the end of the game behind some key shooting from All-American Tyrone Curnell, Ricardo Lewis, Christian Hunter and Tristan Crawford and BJ Dibble.
Four Blazers finished the game in double figures, Crawford, Curnell, Hunter and Dibble, as Crawford led VSU with 14 points on the night, while ATU had just two players in double figures.
Valdosta State became the first team to defeat ATU in the Coliseum this season as the Blazers have now knocked off two No. 1 teams this season, as VSU knocked off Augusta State earlier this season at the Complex.
The Blazers will play Rollins on Tuesday night for the South Region Championship. The game is scheduled to tip-off at 9:00 p.m. and can be heard on Talk 92.1 F.M. (The Blazer Radio Network) and can be read at VSUspectator.com.