Paced by a big second half the Valdosta State Blazers knocked off the Lee Flames, 83-68 on Thursday evening inside Walker Arena.

Lee held a five-point advantage (41-36) at the halftime break but saw the lead quickly dissipate as the Blazers' converted several buckets down low and shot 60 percent from the field on their way to outscoring the Flames, 47-27 in the second half.

Keevin Tyus scored 15 points for the home team on 7 of 10 shooting from the field to go along with eight rebounds. The junior is currently fourth in the Gulf South Conference (GSC) in field goal percentage hitting at a 61.8 clip. Rico Overall joined Tyus in double-figures with 17 points. Big man Rantavious Gilbert added eight markers and pulled down six boards.

The Flames struggled from the charity stripe and the 3-point line in the contest but did hit 44.1 percent from the field overall (30 of 68). Lee knocked down just 2 of 16 triples and cashed in only 37.5 percent from the free throw line (6 of 16).

The Blazers converted 50 percent of their shots for the game and made the most of their free-throw opportunities, connecting on 13 of 15 from the line.

"We continue to play well in the first half and come out very flat in the second half," said head coach Tommy Brown after the contest. "We are not very good defensively in the second half of our games right now and until we figure out how to get stops we are going to continue to get beat."

Shaun Jones led the way for Georgia club with 21 points. Saadiq Muhammad pitched in 16 points and grabbed seven boards while Jeremiah Hill matched with 16 points of his own. Chris Bilbo set the offensive in motion with 10 assists

Both teams did a nice job of taking care of the basketball. Lee committed just 11 turnovers and Valdosta State was charged with 12. The rebounding margin was also close, with Lee holding a slight 37-35 advantage on the glass.

"Give Valdosta credit their big and athletic and pounded it inside and that was obviously the game plan in the second half," added Brown. "We didn't guard their penetration which caused us to help up and allowed them to get several dunks. We couldn't get out in transition and run like we did in the first half. We didn't shoot the ball well but if we're not going to make shots we have to bow our necks and play a lot better than we are right now defensively."

The loss drops Lee to 2-6 on the young season and 0-3 in league action. The Blazers improve to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in the GSC. Valdosta State takes a 3-2 advantage in the overall series after the two clubs split the season series the last two years.Until tonight, the home team had won all four previous meetings.

The Flames will get back on the hardwood on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. as they host West Florida. The Argonauts were off on Thursday and will come into town with a 2-3, 1-1 mark.