The VSU Blazers fell to the Alabama Huntsville Chargers in the finale of the Gulf South Conference Men’s tournament championship 101-95.  

Despite the Chargers sweeping the Blazers in the regular season, including their previous meeting coming down to the wire in overtime back in January, this game would determine the GSC conference champion. 

 The Chargers were fighting for their sixth GSC championship in the program’s history and to extend the longest win streak in school history to 30 games, while the Blazers were fighting for the right to win their second GSC tournament in school history.  

This much-anticipated rematch between the two teams that have sat at first and second seed all season once again lived up to the hype, as there were six lead changes throughout. This game would be the highest-scoring conference championship game in GSC history, beating the previous record set when these two teams met in the 2017 GSC Championship, where the Chargers narrowly defeated the Blazers 97-94. 

Blazer forward Carlos Hart had another excellent game, leading all scorers with 29 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. Forward Drew Mills also contributed 18 points and six rebounds. 

Blake Campbell led the Chargers in scoring with 23 points, including several key three-pointers that helped push the Chargers ahead in the final five minutes of the game.  

The Chargers’ 30th win in a row would secure their title and earn them an automatic bid in the NCAA Division II basketball tournament. They improved to 30-1 and were seeded as the No. 2 seed in the Southern region, facing the University of Tampa Spartans.  

The Blazers fell to 25-6 on the season; however, they earned a bid into the NCAA Division II basketball tournament as the No. 4 seed. They will face the Lynn University Fighting Knights on Saturday, March. 15. 

The game will tip off at 7:30 p.m. in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, at the campus of Nova Southeastern and will be broadcast on NCAA.org.