Lee to host undefeated Valdosta State Thursday night

When: Thursday, December 19, 2013 

Where: Paul Dana Walker Arena (Cleveland,Tenn.) 

Audio: Talk 92.1 

Live Stats: Sidearm Sports

Both No.25 Valdosta State and Lee are riding notable winning streaks, but only one team will extend theirs Thursday night.

Corey Billingsley (20) is third in the conference in scoring. 

The Flames (5-2) hope to extend their 22-game home win streak by handing the visiting Blazers their first defeat of the season in what will be the first-ever meeting between institutions.

One more victory for VSU (7-0) ties for the best start in school history since the 2010 season, that year's team reached the Elite Eight of NCAA national tournament.

The Blazers have high hopes and thanks to their offensive prowess – they have a reason to be.

VSU has averaged 88.6 points per game, including a 107-80 victory over Carver Bible. The deep ball has been helpful too; the Blazers are shooting 36 percent from three-point range.

The entire Blazer starting line-up (Justice, Murray, Leonard, McKay, Crawford) is averaging double-figures.

Both squads are coming off their first conference victories over West Florida. The Flames beat the Argos 82-76 Monday night.

VSU is the No.2 scoring team in the Gulf South Conference and could be headache for a LU squad that barely squeezed past UWF while the Blazers won convincingly.

"They are bigger and stronger than West Florida," Flames coach Tommy Brown said in a release. "We are going to have to play a lot of zone because of our size disadvantage against most teams in the GSC, and we have to learn how to rebound out of the zone."

LU once again will look to Corey Billingsley to carry them to triumph for the third straight game.

The junior guard leads his team averaging 19.3 points a night. He has scored over 20 points in four of seven games.

The Flames also get plenty of production out of their freshman point guard, Stedmon Ford.

Ford is third on the team in points (10.4) including a 22-point performance against Truett-McConnell and leads the team in steals (3.0) and assists (2.7).

LU is undefeated at home with wins over Johnson University, Tennessee Wesleyan, Bryan College, TMC, and UWF.

The Blazers' first two games on the road have ended in dramatic fashion, both games have been decided in overtime.

VSU is making its first appearance in Paul Dana Walker Arena; tip off is at 8 p.m.