Box Score
Jackson, MS-Rob Wallace sank a pair of free throws with eight seconds to play sending the Belhaven men's basketball team past Auburn University-Montgomery Saturday night 77-76. The Blazers now find themselves in a three way tie for second place in the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division with William Carey and Loyola who are all 4-3 in league play.

Belhaven (14-11, 4-3 SSAC) was led by Nathaniel Roche' who had a game high 24 points and 10 rebounds which gives him 12 double doubles this season. Roche' hit 8 of his 15 field goals and 8 of 12 attempts at the free throw line. Wallace followed Roche' with 19 points including a team high five assists and the two game winning free throws with eight seconds to play. Brittion Smith ended the night with 12 points and six rebounds and Detrick Johnson rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points in the game. Bobby Grier had seven points, four assists, and a team best three steals.

Belhaven hit 50.0 percent of their field goals (26/52), connected on 41.2 percent of their three pointers (7/17) and cashed in on 69.2 percent of their free throws (18/26). The Blazers outrebounded AUM Saturday night 31-30 and took care of the basketball with only 10 turnovers. The Senators only had nine turnovers, but Belhaven took advantage of the opportunities they did have scoring 15 points off of those miscues. The Blazers also outscored AUM in the paint 36-24.

Auburn University-Montgomery (6-15, 3-4 SSAC) had four players in double figures with Charles Perona leading the way with 18 points. Jerry Stangline tallied 15 points followed by Alex Hergott and Stephen Jordan who each had 11 points. Jordan posted a team best eight rebounds for the Senators and Johnny Williams ended the game with six points and nine assists.

The Senators made 50 percent of their field goals (27/54), dialed up 45.0 percent of their three pointers (9/20), and converted 61.9 percent of their free throws (13-21). AUM had 17 total assists and four steals.

Saturday's game was tightly contest from the opening tipoff all the way to the final buzzer. Belhaven did get the upper hand early racing out of the gate to a 9-2 lead. Smith fired in a triple to begin the contest and then capped the 9-2 run on a layup with two minutes gone by the first half. Seven minutes later Auburn-Montgomery pulled even for the first time in the half on a Perona three pointer with 10:56 to go until halftime. The bucket knotted the score at 20-20 and was the first of what would be five tie scores in the first half.

Both teams traded baskets over the next five minutes with Belhaven owning no more than a four point lead during that span. The Senators put together a late charge towards the end of the half and grabbed the lead for the first time in the game on a Hergott layup with 3:53 to play in the opening period. Leading 33-32, the Senators boosted their edge to six points at 41-35 on a Stangline basket with 1:28 on the clock and eventually took a 43-39 advantage into the locker room at halftime.

Auburn-Montgomery expanded the lead to eight in the first six minutes of the second half and had the momentum leading 53-45. The Blazers then took some of the momentum back with an 11-2 run pulling ahead 56-55 as Johnson capped the scoring spurt with a triple with 10:30 to play. The Senators went back in front by five 67-62 five minutes later, but could not put the game away. Belhaven kept it close and jumped back in front 74-71 on a Wallace triple with 1:39 to go. The score would be tied two more times in the final moments making 13 total tie scores in all. On the final possession, Perona fouled Wallace with eight seconds on the clock and he made the Senators pay by splashing home two free throws for the win.

Belhaven will be back in action when they travel to the University of Mobile on Thursday night for another SSAC West Division matchup. The Blazers won the first meeting of the year 76-66 in Rugg Arena. Mobile is 5-2 in the league and has the lead in the West Division by one game. The Rams have been tough at home this season with a home record of 10-3. Thursday's game can be viewed live online through the SSAC website by clicking here.