The Shorter Hawks were overpowered by No. 20 Valdosta State University in the second game between the two sides over the weekend, as Shorter fell 97-73 to the Blazers (8-2) at the Winthrop-King Centre on Saturday afternoon.

The Hawks found themselves down 20-5 with a little over 13 minutes to go in the first half and were trailing 43-22 heading into the locker room. The first-half deficit proved to be too much for the home side to overcome. VSU's Imoras Agee put up a game-high 19 points in the visitors' second-straight victory. Cam Hamilton finished second in scoring for the Blazers with 17 points and accounted for a team-high six rebounds. Teammate Ricky Brown added 16.

The second half was much better for Shorter, as the Blazers outscored them by only three at 54-51, but it was not enough for the Hawks to manage any sort of comeback.

Charles Botchway paced the Hawks with 11 points and added 10 rebounds and four assists. Teammate Mark Wilcox Jr. made his presence felt as well, coming off the bench and putting up 11 points, including going 5-8 from the free-throw stripe. Wilcox Jr. also added five rebounds of his own. Shorter's Ricky Knight Jr. also accounted for ten points in the loss.

The Hawks (1-6) will brush themselves off and travel to Pensacola, Fla., on Friday in hopes of getting back in the win column at the University of West Florida. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.