ROME, Ga.— The Hawks fought hard but came up shorter against #20 Valdosta State with a final score of 95-86. Jacori Wilson lead Shorter with a game and season high of 20 points. 

With the loss Shorter falls to 1-5 while Valdosta improves to 7-2 on the season. 

The Blazers took control from tip off and kept running with it to head into halftime with a score of 53-38. Coming out of the locker the Hawks went on a scoring rally with a jumper by Jay Shropshire, followed by a layup from Ricky Knight Jr. and a three pointer by Wilson to shorten Valdosta's lead 55-45 with 17:30 left in the second half. Throughout the second half the Hawks kept trying to take the momentum from the Blazers. In the last three minutes of the game, Charles Botchway hit a three pointer to shorten Valdosta's lead to 87-80. With five-seconds on the clock, Knight hit a three-pointer to hold Valdosta within less than 10 points to end the game, 95-86. 

Throughout the game Valdosta kept the momentum and took advantage of turnovers with by scoring a total of 25 points off of turnovers. The Hawks had four players in double digits for scoring which included Wilson (20), Botchway (14), Shropshire (11), and Jaden Dunham (10). Leading scorings for the Blazers include Imoras Agee (20), Burke Putnman (18), and Jacolby Owens (16).

The Hawks will return to action Saturday, January 23 for revenge against Valdosta State with tip off slated for 2pm.