Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven men's basketball team stayed red hot on Saturday night as they topped Tougaloo 73-67 in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament semifinals. The Blazers have now won three in a row including two victories over the Bulldogs in the past week. Belhaven will take on LSU-Shreveport in the Championship game on Tuesday night in Shreveport after the Pilots rolled to an 89-53 win in other semifinal game Saturday night.

Belhaven (24-8) fell behind early as Tougaloo (22-8) opened the night with an 8-2 run that was capped by a Jejuan Jacks free throw with 17:11 left in the opening period. The Blazers quickly turned the tide and outscored the Bulldogs 21-7 over the next eight minutes to build an eight point lead at 23-15. Nathaniel Roche' got the run going on a pair of free throws and a free throw by Tensley Cowan gave the Blazers their 23rd point.

Belhaven then went up by double digits at 27-17 for the first time on a field goal by Roche' with 7:44 remaining until halftime and just over five minutes later expanded their lead to 13 points at 39-26. Woodie Howard knocked down a field goal of an assist and forced Tougaloo to take a time out with 2:10 to go before the break. Howard connected on the final basket of the opening period with 52 seconds left on the clock as Belhaven took a 13 point 43-30 advantage heading into the locker room.

In the first six minutes of the second half, Belhaven kept the lead above 10 points and with 14:23 to go in the game led by 12 at 55-43 following a three pointer by Krayleon Winston. However, Tougaloo made a push to get back in the game and during the next seven minutes had trimmed their deficit to five points at 56-51 on a three pointer by Walter Howard. The Bulldogs eventually pulled to within four points late in the second half on a field goal by Mario Luckett that made the score 66-62 with 2:11 to play.

Tougaloo continued to hang around in the final two minutes and trailed 71-67 with 18 seconds on the clock. However, Howard then hit a couple of clutch free throws for Belhaven to ice the game away with 12 seconds to go bringing home the 73-67 win for the Blazers.

Roche' led Belhaven with a game high 26 points and 11 rebounds to post his tenth double double of the season. Roche' has come on strong in the past three games recording double doubles in each of the outings. Howard followed Roche' in the scorebook with 14 points while A.J. Taylor and Winston each had 10 points apiece. Winston also notched a double double with 10 rebounds to go along with his ten points.

Total rebounds between both teams were even at 30 apiece and both Belhaven and Tougaloo committed 14 turnovers on the night. The Blazers hit 38 percent of their field goals, 33.3 percent of their three point shots, and 60 percent of their free throw opportunities.

Tougaloo was led by Mario Luckett who tallied a team high 17 points and eight rebounds. Jacks followed with 16 points and Howard finished the night with 11 points for the Bulldogs. As a team, Tougaloo knocked down 33.3 percent of their field goals, were held to 26.1 percent shooting from behind the arc, and converted 53.1 percent of their free throws.

Belhaven will now take their three game winning streak into the GCAC Tournament Championship on Tuesday night at LSUS. The Blazers went 1-1 against the Pilots during the regular season and LSUS ended up winning the regular season championship. Tuesday's battle with LSUS is slated to tipoff at 7:00 PM.