VALDOSTA, Ga. — It was a tied game at halftime, but Valdosta State took the upper hand during the next 10-minute period as Montevallo fell to the Blazers, 97-87, Thursday evening.

As both teams came out to start the third quarter with the score tied at 38-38, Germani Abram pushed Valdosta State ahead with a pair of free throws less than 10 seconds into the quarter. Cheray Saunders, who finished with a team-high 23 points for Valdosta State (17-8, 9-8), made it a four-point lead for the Blazers following a layup 40 seconds later.

Marisa Snodgrass cut Montevallo's deficit to 42-41 when she knocked down a 3-point basket at the 8:32 mark of the quarter. However, Delany Bernard answered responded with a 3-pointer for Valdosta State.

Minutes later, Paige Ward connected on a shot from behind the 3-point arc to make it 47-46. But Valdosta State answered with a 9-0 scoring run to extend its lead to 56-46 with 4:51 remaining in the third. The run ended with another Snodgrass 3-point basket, but Kendall Bollmer pushed the Blazer lead back to 10 with another VSU 3-point basket.

Shyan Flack, who finished with a game-high 27 points, sank two free throws to cut Montevallo's deficit to single digits, but a quick 4-0 scoring run for Valdosta State pushed the Blazer lead to 12.

After another Blazer 3-pointer made it 70-58 in the opening minute of the fourth quarter, a 7-0 scoring run in one minute by Montevallo (16-9, 10-7) made it a five-point game. Flack made it a four-point game after a jumper seconds later.

Flack, again, cut the Falcon deficit to a one-possession game with 95 seconds left to play with two free throws. An 8-0 run for Valdosta State pushed its lead back to 10 with 35 seconds left.
Flack and Snodgrass capped their scoring nights with one more basket, respectively, in the closing seconds.

Montevallo will return to action on Saturday, Feb. 22 when the Falcons travel to Pensacola, Fla., to play the University of West Florida at 2 p.m. CT.