VALDOSTA, Ga. – Montevallo men's basketball knocked off No. 9 Valdosta State, 101-92, on Saturday afternoon to secure the No. 3 seed in the 2025 Truist Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.
Valdosta State took control early with a 9-4 lead after the first two minutes before a 7-2 run from Montevallo over the next three minutes tied the game at 11-11 at the 15:00 mark. The Falcons hung close until a triple from
Jaylen Curry and a finish at the rim from
Brandon Fussell gave Montevallo its first lead of the day at 18-17 with 12:17 on the clock. A Curry and-one at the 10:27 put the Falcons back out in front after the Blazers answered with 5-0 run. Valdosta State went on a 9-2 run over 2:02 of game time to take a double-digit lead at 39-29 with 5:58 to play. With UM trailing by 12 with 3:37 remaining, the Falcons offense erupted to outscore VSU 18-4 down the stretch. A Curry three from the top of the key cut the lead down to 43-36 before
Brandon Fussell went coast-to-coast after his first block of the game to cut the lead down to five. Andrews nailed a three to cut it to a two-score game before a transition three from Curry brought the Falcons back within one at 45-44. The junior forward converted an old-fashioned three-point play with 54 seconds remaining to give Montevallo a 47-45 lead, its first since the 10:27 mark. Fussell added a pair of free throws to give Montevallo a 49-45 lead heading into the break.
Curry eclipsed the 20-point mark with the first bucket of the second half before adding a slam in transition to extend Montevallo's lead to 55-49 with 17:52 to play. The Blazers cut the lead down to two with a triple, but Fussell answered with one of his own to spark a 9-0 Montevallo run the gave UM a 66-55 lead. VSU finally ended the run but back-to-back triples from Fussell and
Jay Gillispie pushed Montevallo's advantage out to 15 with 12:57 to go. The two sides went bucket for bucket with the Falcons holding onto its double-digit lead for the next six minutes before Gillispie past double figures with his second three of the game to give Montevallo an 88-74 lead. With 3:41 left, Andrews finished at the rim to give Montevallo its largest lead of the day at 95-78. Over the next two minutes, Valdosta State would use an 11-0 run to cut Montevallo's lead down to 95-89 with 1:46 to play. Montevallo finished the game 2-for-2 from the floor to defeat No. 9 Valdosta State, 101-92.
GAME INFORMATION
Score: Montevallo 101 | No. 9 Valdosta State 92
Records: Montevallo 19-9 (15-7 GSC) | No. 9 Valdosta State 23-5 (18-4 GSC)
Location: The Complex | Valdosta, Ga.
GAME NOTES
- Montevallo's 101 points are the most in a single game this season and the most since Nov. 17, 2023 in a double-overtime game against Clark Atlanta.
- Montevallo dominated the paint, outscoring Valdosta State 52-28 inside.
- The Falcons trailed by as many as 12 points with 4:35 left in the first half but used an 18-4 run to take a lead that would stretch to as many as 17.
- Montevallo shot over 50 percent from the field for the 13th time this season with a 53.7-percent clip from the floor.
- The Falcons' 87.5-percent mark from the free-throw line is the fifth best in a single game this season.
- Jaylen Curry scored a game-high 25 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 6-for-6 from the stripe while adding six rebounds.
- Brandon Fussell went for 19 points on 6-fo-14 shooting with a game-high seven assists while Camden Andrews scored 18 points on 6-for-12 shooting.
- Derek Moore (17) and Jay Gillispie (13) round out all five double-digit scorers for Montevallo.
UP NEXT: Montevallo enters the postseason as the No. 3 seed in the 2025 Truist Gulf South Conference Men's Basketball Tournament and will host sixth-seeded West Alabama at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4.
