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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

VALDOSTA, Ga. – The University of Montevallo Falcons are heading into the Gulf South Conference men’s basketball championship off one of their biggest wins of the season as they knocked off the No. 9 team in all of Division II, the Valdosta State Blazers.

Montevallo sprung the 101-92 upset win on Saturday, March 1 at Valdosta State University to earn its sixth victory in the final seven games of the regular season.

What’s more, the win gave the Falcons the No. 3 seed in the GSC Championship and booked a home quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday, March 7 at 7 p.m. against the West Alabama Tigers in Central State Bank Arena. The semifinals and finals will be at Samford’s Pete Hanna Center on March 8 and 9.

Valdosta State took an early 9-4 lead before Montevallo tied up the game at 11-11 with 15 minutes left in the half thanks to a 7-2 run. The two teams traded blows before a Jaylen Curry 3-pointer and Brandon Fussell basket gave the Falcons an 18-17 lead, their first of the day.

Curry would convert an and-1 opportunity with 10:27 to go in the half but the Blazers responded with a pair of runs to take a 39-29 lead with 5:58 left until the break.

It looked as if Valdosta State might pull away, but Montevallo went on an emphatic 18-4 run to grab momentum back. The long ball was crucial in cutting down the deficit as Curry made it a five-point game before Andrews hit a 3-pointer to make it a two-possession game.

Curry then made another 3-pointer to cut the gap down to a solitary point at 45-44. He also gave the Falcons their first lead since the 10:27 mark with an and-1.

Fussell followed it up with two free throws to end the run and give the Falcons a 49-45 halftime lead.

Curry kept the momentum going with a pair of baskets early in the second half, including a big transition dunk to make the lead 55-49 with 17:52 left. Valdosta State drew within two with a 3-pointer, but Fussell then kicked off a 9-0 run with a deep shot to push Montevallo’s lead to double figures.

The Blazers briefly ended the run, but the Falcons’ 3-point shooting proved too much to handle again. Fussell and Jay Gillespie hit back-to-back long balls to make Montevallo’s lead 15 with 12:57 remaining.

From there, the Falcons survived another back-and-forth stretch before an Andrews finish with 3:41 remaining grew the lead to 95-78, their largest of the day. The Blazers closed the gap with an 11-0 run, but Montevallo scored a pair of late baskets to extend the lead back to nine to finish the win.

Curry led the Falcons with 25 points and six rebounds while Fussell racked up 19 points, seven assists and five steals.

Three more Montevallo players joined them in double figures as Andrews scored 18 points, Derek Moore had 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists and Gillespie provided 12 points off the bench in the final game before Tuesday’s GSC home quarterfinal.