Box Score
Jackson, MS-William Carey University put together a late rally, but the Belhaven men's basketball team was able to hang on and edge the Crusaders 57-54 Thursday night in Rugg Arena. The Blazers climb to 14-10 overall and 6-7 in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference. William Carey goes to 8-15 on the season and 3-10 in GCAC competition.

 

Things didn't look good early on as William Carey opened the game on a 15-4 run over the first six minutes of the contest. Belhaven cut the deficit to three on a couple of Krayleon Winston free throws to make the score 15-12. The Crusaders then built the lead back to nine points at 23-14 with 6:24 remaining in the first half. The Blazers went on to outscore William Carey 10-5 over the final six minutes of the half to trim the Crusader lead to 28-24 at the break. The final basket of the half was scored by Nathaniel Roche' with 1:03 left on the clock.

 

With just over two minutes gone by in the second half, the Blazers were finally able to grab their first lead of the contest. Korey Whiting got inside on the William Carey defense and converted the field goal to give Belhaven a 30-28 advantage. The Blazers would not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game. Belhaven then expanded the lead to 11 points at 45-34 on an Iman Walcott bucket with 8:04 on the second half clock.

 

The Crusaders then made a late push to get back into the game and make it close at the end. William Carey got a couple of free throws from Dexter Middleton with 56 seconds left and suddenly it was a four point game at 52-48 in favor of the Blazers. Belhaven saw the lead cut to three points at 54-51 after a Middleton field goal. After a couple of Blazer free throws by Chase Hudson, Anthony Wilcher dialed up a three pointer with seven seconds on the clock making it a one possession game at 56-54.

 

Marcus Spann fouled Allen McClain sending him to the line for the double bonus. McClain converted on 1 of 2 at the stripe setting up one more offensive possession for the Crusaders. Wilcher drove down the court and launched an off balance three that hit the side of the backboard as the horn sounded enabling the Blazers to escape with a 57-54 win.

 

Nathaniel Roche' led Belhaven with 14 points while Krayleon Winston chipped in with 12 points off the bench. Korey Whiting had seven points and paced the Blazers in rebounds with seven. Belhaven shot at a 51.3 percent clip from the field and 37.5 percent from behind the three point line. The Blazers struggled at the line converting just 48.3 percent of their free throw attempts.

 

William Carey got a game high 26 points from Dexter Middleton and eight points from Anthony Wilcher. Middleton also led the team in rebounds with six on the night. Belhaven held the Crusdaders to 35.6 percent shooting from the field for the game and just 20.8 percent in the second half.