Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven men's basketball team captured a key Southern States Athletic Conference West division win over Loyola University Thursday night 76-67 in Rugg Arena. The Blazers were coming of one of their toughest losses of the season last Saturday against William Carey and got a much needed boost heading into the final two games of the season.

Belhaven (15-13, 5-5 SSAC) was led by Rob Wallace who fired in a team high 20 points while collecting four rebounds and four assists. Forrest Yarbrough had one of his best nights of the season recording 13 points on the strength of three triples. Brittion Smith chipped in with nine points followed by Chris Cofield who added seven points. Four other players had six points each including Nathaniel Roche' who tallied a game high 13 rebounds. All around it was a solid balanced performance for Belhaven as nine different players put the ball in the basket.

Belhaven knocked down 42.2 percent of their field goals (27-64), hit 46.2 of their shots from three point land (6-13), and converted 51.9 percent of their free throw attempts (14-27). The Blazers dominated the boards especially on the offensive end of the floor where they grabbed 22 of their 42 total rebounds leading to 23 second chance points. The Blazers had 36 points in the paint and 19 points off 17 turnovers by the Wolfpack.

Loyola (12-12, 4-5 SSAC) had a solid outing from Ryan Brock who scored a game high 24 points while pulling down five rebounds. Corey Gray ended the game with 20 points off the bench and Darrington Moncrieffe was the Wolfpack's leading rebounder with six boards. Chris Joseph did not score for Loyola, but had a team high five assists on the night.

Loyola shot the ball well from the field drilling 53.7 percent of their field goals (29-54). The Wolpack made good on 33.3 percent of their triples (3-9), but struggled at the free throw line where they managed to make only 35.3 percent of their attempts (6-17). Loyola had 30 total rebounds, scored 38 points in the paint, and forced 13 Blazer turnovers leading to 13 points.

Belhaven started quickly by opening the night with a 9-0 run and kept Loyola off the board through the first 3:30 minutes of action. Bobby Grier got things started with a triple and then a jumper from Wallace following a steal by Grier capped the run. Loyola got on the board with 16:35 to play in the first half on an Anthony Miles bucket to make it 9-2. The Wolpack fought back and grabbed what would be their only lead of the night about midway through the first half. Loyola took advantage of a Roche' turnover and Gray splashed home a jump shot to make it 16-15.

The Blazers quickly countered and stepped back ahead on a three by Forrest Yarbrough which started an 8-0 scoring run that pushed the edge out to 23-16 with 6:39 to play until halftime. Loyola trimmed their deficit to two points 27-25 with just over two minutes to play in the period, but once again Belhaven answered with the final four points of the half on free throws by Yarbrough and Chris Cofield granting the Blazers a 31-25 cushion heading into the locker room.

Belhaven exploded on a 10-1 run out of the gate in the second half and Roche' put the exclamation point on the run by grabbing a rebound off a Wallace miss and putting it back in for two. The basket gave the Blazers a 41-26 lead with 17:21 to go in the contest. Belhaven' largest lead on the night of 17 points 59-42 came with 8:04 left thanks to a two point jumper by Yarbrough.

Leading 71-56 with just over two minutes to go, Loyola made one final push to try and get back in it. An 11-2 Wolfpack run made it a two possession game with 25 seconds on the clock as Moncrieffe and Brock hit back to back layups. However, Brock's basket would be the final two points of the night for the Wolfpack as Belhaven made three free throws and played solid defense in the final seconds to take home the victory.

Belhaven will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to Faulkner University for another SSAC West division contest. The Blazers find themselves in a tie for third place in the SSAC West with Auburn-Montgomery with just two games to play. The top five teams in the division make the conference tournament. Saturday's tip-off at Faulkner is slated for 4:00 PM.