Box Score
Montgomery, AL-The Belhaven men's basketball team put together a late second half charge, but it wasn't enough to overtake Auburn University-Montgomery Thursday night as the Senators held on for a 78-71 victory in the Southern States Athletic Conference opener for both teams. The Blazers faced an uphill climb with just over five minutes to go in the contest trailing 69-56, but managed to engineer a 12-2 run that brought them to within three points at 71-68 with 41 seconds left. However, Auburn-Montgomery hit a couple of key layup's and free throws in the final minute to secure the victory.

Belhaven (9-8, 0-1 SSAC) was led by Rob Wallace who had a game high 26 points hitting 9 of his 22 shots from the field. Included in those nine field goals, were five three point baskets giving him 43 triples on the season. Wallace, who missed the Xavier game due to an injury, showed no ill effects Thursday night and continues to average over 20 points per game this season. Two other Blazers landed in double figures in the scorebook as Daryl Arnold and Brittion Smith added 15 and 11 points respectively. Nathaniel Roche' had nine rebounds to lead the Blazers on the boards, chipped in eight points, and came up with a blocked shot.

Belhaven struggled in the first from the field hitting only 34.4 percent of their field goals (11-32), but shot much better in the second half hitting 52.9 percent of their shots from the field (18-34). The Blazers did a better job of getting the ball in the paint in the second half and for the game knocked down 43.9 percent of their field goals (29-66). The Blazers had a tough time in three point land Thursday night going 7 for 25 which equates to a 28 percent shooting clip. Belhaven only had 12 total attempts at the free throw line and made six of them. Belhaven lost the rebounding battle 44-35, but forced 20 AUM turnovers leading to 31 points off those miscues.

Auburn University-Montgomery (4-10, 1-0 SSAC) had five players score at least 10 points or more in Thursday night's game. Marquez Brooks led the way with 17 points followed by Charles Perona with 15 points. Michael Lee added 12 points off the bench and Stephen Jordan had 11 points and a game high 13 rebounds to post a double double. Alex Hergott rounded out the double digit scorers for AUM with 10 points against the Blazers. Perona had eight rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals to go along with his 15 points.

The Senators hit 48.5 percent of their total field goal attempts (32-66) and were deadly from three point range making 7 of 16 from behind the arc (43.8 percent). At the charity stripe, AUM converted 53.8 percent of the free throws (7-13). The Senators forced 16 Belhaven turnovers which led to 14 points. AUM scored 42 of their points in the paint.

Belhaven, who came into the game fresh off an upset victory over 9th ranked Xavier University (LA) last Saturday, led only once during the game. The Blazers scored first on a Roche' jumper 18 seconds into the action giving them a brief 2-0 edge, but then Auburn University-Montgomery took charge and built their first double digit lead at 18-7with 12:01 left in the opening period on a Hergott layup. Trailing by 10 points at 31-21 with 1:53 until halftime, Belhaven put together a 7-2 run to close the half and were down by just five points at 33-28 when the buzzer sounded sending both teams to the locker room.

In the second half, the Senators started quickly and had the lead back to 11 points at 42-31 just over two minutes into the frame. An 11-4 Blazer scoring spurt got them back to within four points at 46-42 on a Smith layup with 13:24 to play in the game. AUM then quickly responded and built their largest advantage of the game at 69-56 with 5:09 left in the second half. Belhaven fought to get back in it and trailed by just three points with 41 seconds left, but couldn't come up with a key defensive stop or basket to put them over the top.

Belhaven will be back in action on Saturday when they return home to battle the University of Mobile in another SSAC contest. The tip-off at Rugg Arena is slated for 7:00 PM and fans can follow the action through live stats by clicking here.