Today Valdosta State basketball’s five seniors walked off the court victorious in their last game playing in front of the Blazer fans in the P.E. Complex.

Both teams managed to beat Gulf South Conference rival West Florida in games that came down to the wire Saturday afternoon.

These exiting players consist of James Anacreon, Jarroid Johnson, Shaquille Harris, Josh Sparks of the men’s team and lone senior Brittney Nelson on the women squad.

“I’m just glad this program sent me out on a high note,” Nelson said. “I couldn’t be more grateful.”

In the first game of the day, Nelson’s made three-pointer with less than a minute left in regulation helped the Lady Blazers hold on to 68-65 win over conference rival West Florida.

Blazer sophomore guard Kourtnee Williams and Nelson teamed up to score the final 26 of VSU’s points.

“Kourtnee is a monster,” Nelson said. “She takes matters into her own hands when we need it the most. I think her and I feed off each other. After the first eight games, I told her we need to take leadership on the offensive end and that her and I need to score.”

Well the duo surely did so keeping the game close in the second half after giving up a lead that was as large as 16 in the first half.

In the last four minutes, the Argos went on a 12-0 run to cut their deficit.

The rally was led by Emily Erland who tallied 13 of her 20 total points in the first half.

The Lady Blazers went down 32-31 at the halftime.

UWF maintained a small lead throughout the second halftime until Nelson made one of her four three-pointers with four minutes left to put the Lady Blazers up.

The game tied twice before the clutch play by Nelson kept VSU ahead.

“Last year we had a group of seniors that lost on senior day, that broke my heart and today these kids did not let that happen,” Head Coach Kiley Hill said.

The men’s game followed after the women’s victory.

Senior James Anacreon recorded three of his 17 total points on a game-changing converted three-point play to tie up the game at 73 with 14 seconds left in regulation.

The Argos couldn’t score again in the final seconds forcing overtime.

VSU outscored UWF 13-8 in the extra period to improve to 17-7 overall.

The Blazers couldn’t get in a rhythm in the first half nevertheless solid defense allowed them to stick around.

The game tied nine different times over the course of the first half.

UWF led 29-25 at the halftime.

The Argos went up as much as 14 points early in the second half.

Comeback chances seemed slim however the Blazers made a late-game surge.

Four VSU players finished in double figures: Josh Sparks (20), Patrick Diop (18), James Anacreon (17), Shaquille Harris (10).

Note: VSU forward Brooke Satterfield injured her left knee during Saturday’s game. The severity is unknown. The five seniors were honored before their games. VSU’s Red Hot seniors were also honored.