Box Score
Jackson, MS-The Belhaven men's basketball team clinched a spot in the Southern States Athletic Conference Tournament in their regular season finale Thursday night in Rugg Arena. The Blazers topped Spring Hill College 64-55 in front of family and friends as seniors Rob Wallace, Nathaniel Roche', Bobby Grier, Detrick Johnson, and Tensely Cowan were all honored as part of senior night festivities prior to the tip-off.

Belhaven (16-14, 6-6 SSAC) was led by Wallace with a game high 18 points followed by Roche' who tossed in 14 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Wallace also added five assists and five rebounds while Grier picked up eight boards and six points in the game. Johnson contributed eight points and had three steals in his final regular season game as a Blazer. Brittion Smith also played well off the bench dropping in seven points on three of six shooting from the field.

As a team, Belhaven knocked down 42.6 percent of their field goals (23-54), made good on 10.5 percent of their triples (2-19), and converted 64 percent of their free throws (16-25). Rebounds were even with Spring Hill at 41 apiece although the Badgers had the edge in points in the paint 38-32. Belhaven scored 11 points off 16 Spring Hill turnovers and delivered 14 points off of fast break baskets. Belhaven committed 15 turnovers on the night.

Spring Hill College (9-17, 3-8 SSAC) had two players in double figures as Nick Brown and Alex Looney both scored 14 points. Rico Dread chipped in nine points and seven rebounds followed by Tyler Schwab with eight points and four assists. The Badgers hit 36.2 percent of their field goals (21-58), fired in 8.3 percent of their triple tries (1-12), made good on 50 percent of their free throws (12-24).

Belhaven led from start to finish as they ran off the first five points in the contest. Wallace broke the ice with a fast break layup and then a free throw by Cowan and a dunk from Roche' gave the Blazers a 5-0 lead at the 18:04 mark of the first half. The Blazers pulled out to a double digit lead for the first time with 8:23 to play in the half on another layup by Wallace that made it a 22-11 game. From that point on, the Blazers maintained a double digit advantage for the remainder of the period with the exception of a 22-13 score after two Rico Dread free throws. Belhaven's largest lead of the first half was 15 points 37-22 right before halftime. Two more Badger free throws by Dread made it a 37-24 contest heading into the break.

With just under two minutes gone by in the second half, Belhaven enjoyed their largest lead of the night at 43-26 thanks to a Johnson jumper. Over the next few minutes, Spring Hill trimmed it down to a seven point game as Tyler Schwab dialed up a triple making it a 45-38 contest with 9:59 left. The Badgers stayed within striking distance and actually pulled to with six points twice in the final 20 minutes, but each time Belhaven responded with a basket on the next possession to help stop a comeback attempt as the Blazers held on for the 64-55 win.

Belhaven will now wait and see what their seed will be and who they will face next week at the SSAC Tournament in Rome, GA. The Blazers could be as high a third seed depending on what happens with other conference games that are scheduled to be played on Saturday. Keep visiting the Belhaven athletics website for the latest postseason news and updates.