Box Score
Hattiesburg, MS-The Belhaven men's basketball team rallied for a key 70-62 overtime win at rival William Carey University in Southern States Athletic Conference action Thursday night. The Blazers trailed the entire game until Nathaniel Roche's layup with 1:34 left in the contest gave Belhaven a 59-57 lead. William Carey's Kevin Branch sent the game into the extra frame on a dunk with 10 seconds left, but the Blazers owned the overtime and held the Crusaders to just three points in the extra period to come away with the win.

Belhaven (11-8, 2-1 SSAC) had a big night from Roche' who came up with some clutch shots throughout the contest. Roche' finished with a game high 28 points and 15 rebounds going 10 for 13 from the field and 8 of 11 at the free throw line en route to his eighth double double of the season. Rob Wallace also topped the 20 point mark firing in 25 points while adding a team high three assists. Brittion Smith was the other Blazer who posted double figures in scoring with 10 points in the game.

The Blazers made 40 percent of their field goals (26-65), 13.3 percent of their three point attempts (2-15) and 69.6 percent of their free throws (16-23). Belhaven lived in the paint scoring 48 points down low and outrebounded William Carey 49-42. The Blazers also had 17 points off 18 Crusader turnovers and came up with 14 second chance points.

William Carey (9-9, 1-2 SSAC) had four players in double figures led by Drew Meyerchick with 18 points. Jamal Doss dropped in 14 points off the bench while Kevin Branch and Johnathan Woodland chipped in 11 and 10 points respectively. Woodland also had a team high nine rebounds and Branch finished the game with seven boards. Marcus Spann only had three points in the game, but dished out a game high seven assists.

The Crusaders had 36.2 percent of their field goals find the bottom of the net (25-69) and made 25 percent of their three point baskets (4-16). William Carey hurt themselves at the free throw line where they made just 42.1 percent of their attempts. The Crusaders went 8 for 19 at the line and 6 for 13 in the second half which was a big factor in the outcome of the game. William Carey forced 19 Belhaven turnovers leading to 16 of their points.

William Carey opened the game with a three point basket by Meyerchick and built an 8-2 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Belhaven then went on a 6-0 run to tie the score at 8-8 on a Roche' layup with 15:13 remaining on the first half clock, but the Crusaders pulled back out in front a couple of possessions later on a layup from Blanks to make it 10-8 with 13:56 left in the opening period. The Crusaders then pushed their advantage to 12 points at 22-10 with 8:09 until the break and maintained a nine point halftime lead at 31-22.

Things didn't look good for Belhaven midway through the second half as William Carey owned a comfortable 51-37 lead and had controlled the game up until that point. The Blazers then finally began to make some headway and chipped away at the deficit eventually taking the lead at 59-57 for the first time on Roche's layup with a 1:34 left. Branch's dunk to send the game into overtime ended what had been a 22-6 Belhaven run to get the Blazers back into the contest. Meyerchick gave William Carey their only lead in overtime on a free throw 15 seconds into the extra period. Belhaven scored the next eight points and with 27 seconds to go held a 67-60 following two Wallace free throws. Roche' capped the game with two more shots at the charity stripe to seal the win. Belhaven was 6 of 7 at three throw line as a team in overtime.

Belhaven will hit the court again on Saturday when they travel to Loyola University (LA) for another SSAC contest beginning at 5:00 PM. The Blazers head into the game in a three way tie for first place in the SSAC West division with Mobile and Auburn-Montgomery at 2-1.