Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven men's basketball team went toe to toe with Mississippi College on Monday night, but could not overcome the hot shooting Choctaws as MC prevailed 89-79 in Rugg Arena. Mississippi College hit 51.5 percent of their field goals and 52 of their points came in the paint. The Blazers had a strong first half, but could not sustain the momentum as the Choctaws rallied for their 10th win of the season.

The game went back and forth in the early moments of the contest, but Belhaven (10-2) was eventually able to forge a five point lead at 14-9 with 15:02 remaining on the first half clock. Bobby Grier, Rob Wallace, Nathaniel Roche' and Tensley Cowan all helped spark the Blazers offense in the first five minutes. Mississippi College (10-0) fought back to take the lead at 16-14 two minutes later on dunk by Donnie Haywood and then the Choctaws extended their advantage to 18-14 on a Luther Suggs Layup with 12:56 remaining in the opening period.

Belhaven wouldn't back down and engineered a 17-3 run to build what proved to be their largest lead of the night at 31-21 with just under six minutes to go before halftime. Krayleon Winston sparked the run with a three point basket and Grier capped it with a layup of a steal and an assist by Josh Luckett. Unfortunately for the Blazers, the offense went cold and the Choctaws turned the tide over the final five minutes of the period using an 18-7 run to grab a 39-38 when the buzzer sounded. Suggs rebounded a missed shot by teammate Cordero Brown and knocked dropped the put back in off the window with under six seconds to play in the first half to give MC the lead.

Belhaven come out of the locker room in the second half and in the first 2:30 minutes shot back in front 47-43 thanks in part to a pair of free throws by A.J. Taylor. However, the Choctaws took control of the game with a 21-6 run and posted their first double digit lead of the night at 64-53 on a layup by Bowen with 9:31 to go in the game. Belhaven was unable to ignite another rally and could get no closer than six points for the remainder of the contest as Mississippi College pulled away for the victory.

The Blazers were led on offense by Grier and Roche' with 16 points apiece. Winston had a solid night off the bench by tossing in 13 points and Rob Wallace added 10 points to round out the double digit scorers. Cowan paced Belhaven in rebounds with eight while both Winston and Grier dished out a team high three assists. Following Monday's contest, Roche' is tops on the team in scoring this season at 13.4 points per game followed closely by Larell Bailey at 12.3 points per night.

As a team, Belhaven struggled from the field hitting just 39.2 percent of their total attempts and made only 22.7 percent of their shots from three point range. The Blazers finished the night converting 64 percent of their opportunities from the free throw line. For one of the rare times this season, Belhaven was outrebound by an opponent as the Choctaws won the battle of the boards 44-39.

Mississippi College had four players reach double figures in scoring led by Haywood with a game high 22 points and eight rebounds. Suggs recorded 15 points and seven rebounds, Andre Thomas chipped in 13 points, and Chazz Hawkins added 10 points for Mississippi College. The Choctaws drilled 51.5 percent of their field goals, 29.4 percent of their three pointers, and converted 63.6 percent of their free throw opportunities.

Belhaven will take the court again on Thursday when they travel to Dillard University in New Orleans to open up the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference schedule. The tipoff is slated for 7:30 PM.