Box Score
Jackson, MS-Leading by only five at halftime, the Belhaven men's basketball team outscored Rust College 59-43 in the second half and pulled away for a 105-84 victory over the Bearcats on Tuesday night in Rugg Arena. The Blazers topped the century mark for the fifth time in eight games this season and are averaging 96.1 points per game as a team while holding opponents to just 75.6 points per night.

Belhaven (8-0) struck first coming out of the gate with the first four points of the contest on a layup by Woodie Howard and a jumper by Bobby Grier with one minute gone by in the first half. Rust scored their first points on a pair of free throws by Contreras Thomas and then tied the game at 4-4 with 16:39 to go in the first half on a layup by William Montgomery.

The Blazers then grabbed a 9-4 advantage on a mini 5-0 run which was capped off by a Bobby Grier three pointer with 16:09 remaining in the opening frame. The Bearcats fought back to tie the score at 12-12 with an 8-3 burst with the tying basket by Eric Jackson on a layup underneath the lid. Rust kept the offense going and built a six point advantage at 22-16 following a triple by Markeith Wilson with 9:50 left on the first half clock.

The Bearcats largest lead of the game ended up being seven points at 34-27 with just under five minutes remaining until halftime. At that point, the Blazers offense got going and reeled off a 19-7 run to close out the half with a 46-41 lead when the buzzer sounded. Rob Wallace, Larell Bailey, Detrick Johnson, and Nathaniel Roche' all had some key baskets to help spark the Belhaven run.

The Blazers opened the second half on a dunk by Roche' following a steal and an assist by Wallace who found Roche' wide open underneath the basket for the easy two. Belhaven's 48-41 edge did not last long as Rust rallied with a 6-0 run to get within one point at 48-47 with 17:16 to go in the game. However, the Blazers turned the tide and took control of the game on the strength of 29-8 run over the next seven minutes and just like that Belhaven enjoyed a 77-55 lead with 10:27 to play.

A layup by Isaiah Rice with 6:05 on the second half clock gave Belhaven their largest lead of the night at 92-65. The Bearcats fought back with an 18-5 to close the gap to 16 points at 99-83, but it was too little too late with just over a minute left in the game. A few seconds later, John Jibol pushed the Blazers past the century mark with a pair of free throws and then Rice tallied a layup with two seconds left giving Belhaven the 105-84 win.

Belhaven's offense was balanced once again tonight with five players scoring in double figures. Larell Bailey led the way with 16 points followed by Krayleon Winston with 14 points off the bench. Rob Wallace added 13 points, Nathaniel Roche' had 11 points, and Woodie Howard ended the night with 10 points for Belhaven. Roche' and Terence Stringfellow led the Blazers with seven rebounds while Bobby Grier dished out a game high six assists. Roche' also blocked three Bearcat shot attempts.

As a team, Belhaven made good on 46.8 percent of their field goals, drilled 52.6 percent of their three pointers, which included knocking down 6 of 7 triple tries in the second half. The Blazers also had a pretty good night at the free throw line converting 72.4 percent of their attempts at the stripe. Belhaven outrebounded Rust 48-41 and forced 22 Bearcat turnovers. The Blazers committed 20 turnovers as a team in Tuesday night's game.

Rust was led by Eric Jackson with 16 points off the bench followed by Markeith Wilson who added 15 points in the game. Larry Veasley was the only Bearcat starter to reach double figures with 13 points. Veasley also had a game high eight rebounds for Rust while Sergio Catron had four assists to pace the Bearcats in that category. Rust made 43.1 percent of their shots from the field, 37.5 percent of their three pointers, and 70.4 percent of their free throws.

Belhaven will be back in action when they travel to Union University (TN) on Saturday afternoon. The Blazers defeated the Bulldogs 75-72 in Rugg Arena on November 24th in the first meeting between the two schools this season. Saturday's tip-off is slated for 4:00 PM.