Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven men's basketball team gained some much needed momentum and confidence heading into GCAC tournament play next week by upending first place Tougaloo College Saturday night 72-63. The win also clinched sixth place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference giving the Blazers a bye in the first round of the conference tournament. Belhaven finished the regular season with a 17-12 overall record and a 9-9 GCAC mark. The Bulldogs are 21-9 overall and 14-4 in the league.

 

Belhaven's offense and defense was clicking on all cylinders in the first half as the Blazers jumped out to a 33-26 halftime lead. Belhaven hit 46.9 percent of their first half shots and held the Bulldogs to a 29.4 first half shooting percentage. Tougaloo was cold from behind the three point line missing on all 13 of their first half attempts.

 

The Blazers came out in the second half and drilled 51.9 of their field goal attempts which helped them hang on for the 72-63 win. Belhaven struggled at the free throw line making only 9 of their 21 attempts from the striped which made the field goal shooting that much more essential to the victory. The defense remained tough in the final 20 minutes by applying pressure on the ball and not allowing Tougaloo to get open looks at the basket.

 

Iman Walcott led the Belhaven offense with 18 points followed by Korey Whiting and Nathaniel Roche' with 16 points a piece. Whiting grabbed 14 rebounds and Roche' hauled in 13 boards as both players recorded double doubles on Saturday night. For Whiting it was his eighth double double and for Roche' it was his fifth of the season.

 

As a team, Belhaven finished the night making 49.2 percent of their field goals and 37.5 percent of their three pointers. The Blazers also outrebounded Tougaloo 47-42 in Saturday's game.

 

The Bulldogs had three players in double figures led by Walter Howard with 22 points followed by Jermaine Hodges with 17 points. Fredrick Griffin added 13 points and a game high 15 rebounds. Tougaloo made 32.4 percent of their shots but hit only 18.8 percent of their shots from behind the arc.