VALDOSTA, Ga.  – The University of Montevallo men's basketball team kept its postseason hopes alive with a 94-89 win on the road against Valdosta State, Thursday, snapping a four-game losing streak.
 
Seniors James McNeil and Braxton Bertolette combined for 55 of UM's 94 total points, scoring 25 and 30, respectively.
 
Montevallo fell behind 7-0 to start against the Balzers in The Complex. Mason Shifflett drained a three-pointer at the 14:16 mark to cap a 14-3 responding run for the Falcons to lead, 14-10. The three-point advantage quickly turned into 11 when Kendon Knight scored two points in the paint to give UM a 24-13 edge. The Falcons held Valdosta State at arms distance the rest of the half and held a 10-point lead, 45-35 at halftime.
 
Less than six minutes into the second half, four consecutive free-throws combined from Braxton Bertolette and Knight gave Montevallo its largest lead of the game, 62-48. Valdosta State closed the gap over the next four minutes and trimmed the deficit to two, 69-67, with 10:06 to go, following a 19-7 run. A three-pointer from James McNeil pushed the Falcons in front by four but VSU evened the score 75-75 with a pair of free-throws and a dunk at the 7:39 mark. After trading points, another three-pointer from Shifflett and Bertolette helped push the Falcons back in front 83-79. Tied 87-87 at the 1:26 mark, the Falcons drilled six consecutive free-throws to lead 93-87 with 21 seconds remaining. McNeil added the final point from the charity stripe as UM held on for the 94-89 win and outscored VSU 7-2 in the final 1:26.
 
Once the Falcons gained the lead with a jumper from McNeil in the first half, Montevallo never relinquished the advantage and held off a home side that event the score on four separate occasions in the second half.
 


Game Information

Score: Montevallo 94, Valdosta State 89
Records: Montevallo (10-16, 8-14 GSC), Valdosta State (17-10,13-8 GSC)
Location: Valdosta, Ga. | The Complex
 
 

GAME NOTES
 

• Montevallo snapped a four-game losing streak and earned its fourth road win of the year, Thursday, to keep postseason hopes alive.
• The Falcons never trailed after taking the lead 11-10 at the 14:36 mark in the first half. UM led by as many as 14 points in the game.
• James McNeil and Braxton Bertolette combined for 55 of UM's 94 points in the win and shot a combined 18-of-29 from the floor for 62 percent.
• McNeil scored 25 points on 8-of-14 shooting to go along with five steals, five assists and three boards while Bertolette added 30 points on 10-of-15 shooting (4-of-6 from three) and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.
• Montevallo turned the ball over 17 times but limited VSU to just 17 points-from-turnovers. UM scored 20 points-from-turnovers despite the Blazers committing just 13 turnovers.
• Three-point shooting proved to be an advantage for the Falcons as the sqaud finished 11-of-28 from three while VSU was just 7-of-21.
• Bertolette was 4-of-6 from three while Mason Shifflett added four three-pointers and scored 17 points.
• Kendon Knight scored a career-high 13 points off the bench and finished 9-of-11 from the charity stripe.
• UM was 25-of-31 overall from the line for 80 percent while VSU was 20-of-28 for 71 percent.

 
Up Next: Montevallo continues a road trip to close the regular season and take on West Florida at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 18, in Pensacola, Florida.