Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven men's basketball team upset Xavier University (LA) Saturday night in Rugg Arena by the final of 66-55. The Gold Rush are ranked 9th in the latest NAIA Division I Top 25 Poll and had just one loss coming into the contest. The Blazers were without leading scorer Rob Wallace due to an injury, but had other players step up and provide production on both the offensive and defensive end of the floor.

Belhaven (9-7) was led by Nathaniel Roche' who notched his seventh double double of the season thanks to a game high 17 points and 12 rebounds. Roche' was 6 of 7 from the field and 5 of 7 at the free throw in Saturday's win. Roche' is second on the team in scoring at 14.1 points per night and leads Belhaven on the boards with 9.6 rebounds per contest.

Detrick Johnson followed Roche' in the scorebook and matched a season high with 12 points while Bobby Grier landed in double figures for the second straight game with 10 points and six rebounds. Brittion Smith chipped in eight points and five assists followed by Daryl Arnold with six points and eight rebounds. Tensely Cowan also came up with eight points and four rebounds.

Belhaven knocked down 44.9 percent of their field goals (22-49), struggled a bit from beyond the three point arc at 16.7 percent (2-12), and had a good night at the charity stripe converting 71.4 percent of their free throws. The Blazers controlled the paint with 32 of their points coming down low and recorded 11 second chance points off nine offensive rebounds. The Blazer defense forced the Gold Rush into 15 turnovers.

Xavier (14-2) had only one player in double figures and that was Devin Andrew who tossed in 15 points on 5 of 12 shooting from the field. Michael Harvey had eight points off the bench while Cordell Hadnot, Anthony Simmons, and Denzell Erves tallied six points each. Belhaven's defense did a solid job slowing down Simmons who was averaging 11.3 points per game coming in. Erves was Xavier's top rebounder with seven while Simmons and Hadnot both grabbed four in the contest.

The Gold Rush hit 37.3 percent of their field goals (19-51), fired in 21.4 percent of their triples (3-14) and struggled at the free throw line making good on just 56.0 percent of their attempts from the stripe (14-25). Xavier scored 16 points off 16 Belhaven turnovers, but only had two second chance points and 24 points in the paint.

Belhaven opened the night scoring the first four points on layups by Brittion Smith and Nathaniel Roche' in the opening two minutes of the game. Xavier then came back to tie it on a field goal by Wanto Joseph and Erves producing one of two tie scores in the opening 20 minutes of action. The Blazers then regained a brief lead on Grier's first bucket of the night making it 6-4 with 16:57 remaining in the first half. Xavier then answered with a Hadnot layup a minute later to deadlock the contest again at 6-6.

Two free throws by Smith following a Kevin Miller foul vaulted Belhaven back on top 8-6 with 15:30 left to go in the first half. The Blazers would hold the advantage the rest of the half and led by as many as eight points twice in the opening period. Belhaven took a 20-12 lead with 9:06 until intermission on an Arnold layup and then led again by eight points at 30-22 with just under three minutes to go in the first. The Blazers missed an opportunity to put the game away at that point as Xavier closed the half on a 7-0 run to get within one at 30-29 when the buzzer sounded.

Four lead changes characterized the first three minutes of the second half as Xavier opened the frame with an Erves basket to take their first lead of the night at 31-30. Belhaven then went up by two at 33-31 on a three point play by Nathaniel Roche' only to see the Gold Rush answer with five straight points to regain the edge at 35-33 with 18:15 to play. It would prove to be the final lead of the night for Xavier went as Belhaven went on a 10-0 run to take control of the momentum and the game. Grier got the run started with a triple and two free throws by Johnson capped it giving the Blazers a 43-35 edge.

From that point on, Xavier could get no closer than six points for the remainder of the game. Belhaven's largest lead of the night was 13 points at 52-39 with 9:31 to play in the contest following a layup by Smith. Belhaven held off the Gold Rush the rest of the way en route to a key non-conference victory.

Belhaven will be back in action on Thursday night as they open up Southern States Athletic Conference Western Division play at Auburn University-Montgomery. The tip-off is slated for 8:00 PM.