NAIA Tournament Photo Gallery
Kansas City, MO-The Belhaven men's basketball team heads to Kansas City to participate in the Buffalo Funds NAIA National Tournament for the first time since 1972. The Blazers are in the midst of a historic season that saw the team break the school record for most wins in a season with 24. Belhaven finished the regular season in a three way tie for second place in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference with Tougaloo College and William Carey University. The Blazers made a strong GCAC Tournament run losing to LSU-Shreveport 101-94 in the championship game. The Pilots are the fifth seed in this year's NAIA National Tournament.
Belhaven's 1972 season under Head Coach Charlie Rugg produced the only NAIA National Tournament appearance for the Blazers prior to this year. Belhaven went 22-6 during that season and included victories over Jackson State and Nichols State who are now both NCAA Division I programs. The Blazers opened the 1972 Tourney with a win over Quinnipiac (Conn.) 75-64.
Belhaven was the 16th seed in the 1972 national tournament which has a different seeding format than that of the NCAA Tournament. The field consists of 32 teams with the top 16 earning seeds. Following their win over Quinnipiac, the Blazers met up with Wisconsin-Eau Claire in the second round and lost 59-53 ending their tournament run. Wisconsin-Eau Claire went on to advance to the championship game losing to Kentucky State 71-62.
THE BELHAVEN REPORT:
Belhaven opened the 2009-10 campaign with eight straight victories including a win at home over Union University (TN). Ironically, the Blazers first loss of the year came a few days later at Union and at that point Belhaven owned an overall record of 8-1. Belhaven then rallied for wins over Blue Mountain College and Trevecca Nazarene University who was ranked 13th in the country at that time.
Following the Christmas Holiday, Belhaven lost to Mississippi College but then proceeded to win their next seven games to go to 17-2. The Blazers were also unbeaten in the GCAC at that time with a conference mark of 7-0. Belhaven then hit their roughest stretch of the year dropping three straight GCAC road games to Xavier (LA), Tougaloo, and LSU-Shreveport before rallying for an 82-73 win at home against Dillard. Belhaven then went 3-3 in their next six games including an 89-88 OT win over Tougaloo in the regular season finale. Belhaven began the postseason in the GCAC Tournament with a win over Xavier 71-56 and followed that up with another triumph over Tougaloo 73-67 before bowing out to LSUS in the championhsip.
Nathaniel Roche' leads the Blazers this season averaging 13.4 points and eight rebounds per game.
Larell Bailey averages 11 points per game followed closely by
Rob Wallace at 10.8 points per contest. Bailey and Roche' were also GCAC All-Conference selections for their efforts this season. Roche' hit just over 58 percent of his field goal shots during the regular season and is now at 57 percent following Belhaven's three GCAC tournament contests. Belhaven dominated in their home games this year going 17-1 in 2009-10. The Blazers only loss at home was an 89-79 setback to Mississippi College on January 4th.
As a team, Belhaven is sixth in the country in rebounds per game at 42.8 and is also sixth in the nation in total steals with 326. The Blazers average 82.5 points per game which is 13th best in the country.
Belhaven loves to get up and down the floor and create scoring opportunities in the transition.
THE BIOLA REPORT:
Biola University out of California is the sixth seed in the national tournament and represents the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Eagles are 27-5 overall and finished second in the GSAC with a conference mark of 16-4. Biola is ranked 5th in the final NAIA Top 25 Poll.
The Eagles have three players averaging double figures in scoring heading into the tournament. Rocky Hampton leads the way at 14.6 points per night followed by Danny Campbell and Marlon King with 13.2 and 11.2 points per game respectively. Hampton has knocked down 58.2 percent his shots from the field in the 2009-10 season. Hampton was among the top players in the NAIA finishing fourth in blocked shots, 12th in total rebounds at 8.7 per contest, and 13th in field goal percentage. Campbell is Biola's top three point shooter making good on 40.5 percent of his triples in 32 games this year.
The Eagles are making their 17th trip to the NAIA National Tournament in 2010 and are 19-16 in national tournament games. Biola made the field of 32 a season ago, but lost in the first round to sixth seeded Westminster College (Utah) in the opening round. Biola, like Belhaven, received an at-large bid this year.
All the live play-by-play action of Belhaven's showdown with Biola can be heard via Stretch Internet through the Belhaven Athletics website starting with the pregame show at 10:15 PM.
