The Blazers were unable to get a good shot off on their next possession and the Statesmen pulled down the rebound. Johnson was fouled and hit his free throws to arrive at the final score.

Johnson finished with 27 points on 7-of-16 shooting. He was 10-of-10 from the free-throw line.

Valdosta trailed 40-36 in the second half after leading most of the way. The Blazers regained the lead when Jon Rogers hit a turnaround jumper with 8:33 to go to make it 57-56. With 6:21 to go the Blazers pushed their lead to three when Mike Crain found Rogers for an alley oop. But Rogers received a technical foul after the dunk and Delta was still within one.

The Blazers managed to stay in front until the Johnson 3-pointer despite turnovers and poor shooting down the stretch. VSU shot 50 percent for the game, but the went 0-for-3 in the last three minutes.

Travis DeGroot had 10 points and 9 assists for the Statesmen and Victor Brown came off the bench to score 10 for Delta.

The Blazers five starters all scored in double figures, while the bench combined for one missed shot and no points. Rogers led with 17 points and 7 rebounds. J.T. Thomas and Crain each had 15 points, Jon Banks finished with 13 and Herman Burge had 10.

The Statesmen advance to tomorrow's semifinals against the winner of the Alabama-Hunstville, UCA game at 2:45 p.m.