Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven men's basketball team surged past Faulkner University 81-63 Thursday night in a Southern States Athletic Conference tilt in Rugg Arena. Blazer forward Nathaniel Roche' had another huge game with 27 points and 18 rebounds to help guide Belhaven to their second win this week.

Roche' was coming off a career high 36 points in a win over Dillard on Monday and in his last four games he has fired in 22 points or more. Roche's 18 rebounds matched a season high and Thursday's game marks the 11th time he has recorded a double double this season. Roche' is now averaging 16.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest. Belhaven (13-9, 3-2 SSAC) also had solid production from Detrick Johnson who tossed in a season high 15 points while grabbing six rebounds. Johnson also tallied three assists and a pair of steals.

Brittion Smith played well against Faulkner and contributed 14 points and six rebounds while Rob Wallace rounded out the double digit scorers with 12 points. Wallace was leading the NAIA in total scoring heading into Thursday's contest. Wallace had five assists and two steals to go along with his point production. Bobby Grier made the most of his opportunities with seven points on a triple and four free throws. Grier dished out four assists and had a blocked shot. As a team, Belhaven had 18 assists on the night.

For the second consecutive game, the Blazers hit over 50 percent of their fields and against Faulkner the Blazers bagged 53.6 percent of their total attempts (30-56). Belhaven made 28.6 percent of their three pointers (4-14), but the majority of the offense was found in the paint where the Blazers accounted for 46 of their points. At the charity stripe, Belhaven made 70.8 percent of the attempts in the contest (17-24).

The Blazers had the edge on the boards 44-38 and had 16 second chance points off of 11 offensive rebounds. Belhaven had 14 points on fast break baskets and 17 points off of 15 Faulkner turnovers.

Faulkner (6-14, 1-3 SSAC) had two players in double figures led by Michael Reynolds with 14 points followed by Decorey Jones who tossed in 12 points. Camille Ngon a Ngon had six points and was the Eagles the leading rebounder with seven boards. Reynolds and Palmore came up with six rebounds apiece.

Faulkner struggled from the field making just 33.3 percent of their total shots (24-72) and was just 5 of 20 from three point land for a shooting percentage of 25 percent. The Eagles converted 58.8 percent of their free throws (10-17) and 18 of Faulkner's 38 rebounds were on the offensive end of the floor resulting in 16 second chance points. Faulkner had 36 points in the paint and 22 points off of 22 Blazer turnovers.

The first half of Thursday night's game was a close battle for entire opening 20 minutes of action. Belhaven started the game with five straight points on a three pointer by Wallace and then a layup by Johnson got the Blazers rolling with 18:48 on the clock. Faulkner came back to tie the score at 9-9 with just under 14 minutes until the break on a triple by Jones. It would be the first of four tie scores that would occur in the first period. Belhaven went back up by five points again at 14-9 on a layup by Smith, but Faulkner would counter with a 7-0 run to take their first and only lead of the night at 16-14 after a jumper by Chris Palmore.

Following the Palmore basket with 11:49 left in the half, the Blazers scored the next four points to pull back in front 18-16. Faulkner tied the game momentarily at 18-18, but a fast break layup by Johnson pushed Belhaven ahead for good with 8:27 to play in the first half. The Blazers largest lead of the opening period was seven points at 29-22, but the Eagles were able to trim their deficit to three points at 31-28 when the buzzer sounded signaling the end of the first half.

Belhaven took control of the game in the first five minutes of the second half as they engineered at 17-4 run to open up a 48-32 advantage. The Blazers maintained at least an 11 point lead the rest of the way and led by as many as 26 points at 80-54 with 1:35 left following two free throws by Smith. Faulkner scored nine of the last 10 points in the game, but it was too little too late as Belhaven closed it out for the 81-63 victory.

Belhaven will be back on the road Saturday as they head to Mobile, AL to meet up with Spring Hill College in another SSAC contest. The tip-off is slated for 4:00 PM.