MEMPHIS-Valdosta State guard Winston Morgan sank an off-balance corner three-pointer with 25 seconds remaining to lift the No. NR/25 Blazers to a 72-70 win over the No. 18/NR Christian Brothers University Bucs Saturday afternoon at Canale Arena.

HOW IT HAPPENED:
• The Blazers (14-2, 7-1 GSC) led for most of the first half after knocking down back-to-back triples twice in the early minutes. After CBU (13-3, 5-3) tied the game at 16 on a Brad Miller (Cincinnati, Ohio/Elder HS) triple with 10:53 remaining in the half, the Blazers answered with a 7-0 burst to take a 23-16 lead, their largest of the game, on a KJ James layup with 6:45 remaining in the half.
• The Bucs closed the half on a 6-0 run to regain a 33-30 lead on a pair of Jeff Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) free throws with five seconds remaining in the half.
• CBU broke a 46-all tie with a 7-0 burst to take a 53-46 edge on a Joe Laravie (Kettering, Ohio/Alter HS) triple with 10:34 remaining, and a Jeff Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) layup extended the CBU lead to 56-48, their largest of the game, with 9:28 remaining.
• VSU again answered with consecutive triples to trim the deficit to 56-54 on a Beau Justice trey with 7:58 remaining.
• Three times in the final four minutes, the Blazers drew within a point, first at 66-65 with 3:36 remaining on a Greg Zuppas layup with 3:36 remaining. Mitchell Mays (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East HS) answered with a tip-in on a missed three-pointer, but Clay Guillozet brought VSU back within one at 68-67 on a layup with 2:26 remaining.
• Adam Dieball (Cincinnati, Ohio/Lakota East HS) found Laravie for a layup to restore the Bucs' lead to 70-67 with 2:12 remaining. Justice drove for a layup with 1:48 remaining to cut the deficit to 70-69.
• Morgan's game-winning three-pointer came after VSU grabbed four offensive rebounds to keep their possession alive. After Justice grabbed the fourth and final offensive rebound of the sequence, VSU called a timeout with 29 seconds remaining to set up the play for Morgan's game-winner.
• CBU called a timeout to set up a potential go-ahead three-pointer for Laravie, but his shot rolled off the rim and VSU grabbed the rebound, running the clock down to 0.2 seconds before the Bucs were able to foul.

KEY STATS:
• Laravie scored a team-high 19 to lead the Bucs, shooting 7-of-14 overall including 3-of-6 from three-point range.
• Dieball scored 15 with five assists and five blocks before fouling out in 33 minutes.
• Larkin scored 12 with six assists and two blocks, and he set a career-high as he grabbed 11 rebounds.
• Mays scored nine points off the bench.
• Alex Trentman (Alexandria, Ky./Bishop Brossart HS) added five with 10 rebounds.
• The Bucs shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) overall, including just 29.2 percent (7-of-24) from three-point range. VSU finished 38.8 percent (26-of-67) overall, including 38.5 percent (10-of-26) from beyond the arc.
• The Blazers out-rebounded CBU 43-34, including a 15-8 edge in offensive boards, and they forced eight CBU turnovers while committing nine.

HEAD COACH MIKE NIENABER'S THOUGHTS:
On Joe Laravie's final shot:
"He had a better one than they did. That shot they hit was contested and a really tough shot. We had down the homestretch two or three. Joe had one earlier and Brad had one out of the corner. What was happening is we were getting it in to Adam, and he was starting to do damage around the basket so we got those kick-out threes and they were wide open. That's when we were playing with that one or two point lead, where if you hit those shots you're not out of the woods, but you're a lot better off. Then we went back and got stops, but couldn't get the ball back. A lot of those rebounds ended up on the floor and being fifty-fifty balls and we got none of them. Sometimes that's because we're a step slow. I thought we had our hands on a couple that we could've dug out, or dove on. I felt like there were a lot of missed opportunities like that. We missed a lot at the basket. Alex had a couple in the post where he's really effective where they just rolled off. The problem is so many times you get it to Alex in the post or someone like Joe missing a layup, when you miss those point black shots those are the ones that end up down your throat at the other end. Again we're a step slow, so when recovering when you think we have a layup and maybe there's that half second you're catching your breath in frustration when they're off to the races. Overall I thought we did a good job defensively, but a few times we lost our shooters in transition. We talked about that a lot going into this game, and overall I thought we played great defensively. The offensive rebounds killed us. We gave up 15 and we had some big ones ourselves, but you just can't give that many. The last round down here they got three, you just can't do that and expect to beat a good team like this. Obviouslly, Joe feels terrible because he had a good look and it just didn't go, but that's not the play where we lost the game. It's the play here and the one where we got out of control one time, or one where Brad penetrated and lost his balance. Adam lost his balance one time and threw the pass behind his back that was totally off-balance. He was trying to find something desperately when he lost control, but those are the kind of plays that got us beat. Not wide open miss three's that just didn't go."

On Mitchell Mays' great performance:
"We've been looking and hoping for that for the two years that he's been playing. Obviously, the more he does that the more impact that's gonna have as far as feeling like you need to get him on the floor and play him. The thing about it, he can shoot the ball too. He was a good three point shooter in high school, I just don't think he has the confidence sometimes to take them when it comes out to him and I think he's open. Overall, going 7-24 from 3 just isn't what we need. Not the game we need across the board from people to win a game like this."

On the importance of Monday's game against West Florida:
"I told the guys, the problem is the way things are going in the region. The SIAC has two or three teams with really good records and if they get two or three teams in Florida is going to get two or three. The way it's looking right now, it's not going to be a four bid year for the Gulf South Conference. So we need to stay in the top three. We've got to win this game to keep ourselves in that position. There's a lot of basketball left to play, but we don't need to be going on the road next week two tough road games off of two home losses. Monday then becomes a very critical game for us. As hard as tonight was, I told the guys we did so many things well enough to win tonight. We missed a couple key free-throws. Jeff's been making them all year and had a couple just roll out that were half-way down the rim, Adam missed one, and we've been making them and that's why our record was the way it was. It just all added up. I'm not saying it to pick on those guys, they're doing everything they can."

On Jeff Larkin's strong play:
"I thought Jeff on a night when it wasn't necessarily the offensive game he has most nights, I though he played a great floor game. One of the biggest plays early was when he got that offensive rebound and found Joe on the kick-out. We just don't make those kinds of plays enough. We get offensive rebounds and get our guards around the basket and try to score with our smaller guards against 6-7 athletes. Just fake it and kick it out and Jeff did it on that play. He was one of those getting the fifty-fifty's, scrambling around and getting some steals. I thought he had a really good game. A few of the shots he took that normally go down didn't, but that's what happened to a lot of these guys."

On Luke Rudy's return after missing three games due to injury:
"I thought Luke coming back tonight gave us some good minutes. That's going to give us another boost and guy that can potentially come in and make some threes at times. We've got good kids that are scrapping, we just can't let this heartbreak come back and bite us on Monday night. We've got to recover, be strong mentally, and get it done Monday night and move forward."

WHAT'S NEXT:
The No. 18/NR Bucs return to action Monday afternoon at 4 p.m. as they host No. 15/14 West Florida, who comes to Canale Arena tied with Valdosta State for first place after a 75-61 win at Union tonight.