Box Score
JACKSON, Miss-  The Belhaven men's basketball team gained another key Southern States Athletic Conference win against William Carey University on Thursday night in Rugg Arena, 68-60. The Blazers picking up some momentum gaining their third straight win which moved them into a three way tie for second place in the SSAC West Division.

Belhaven looked good in the opening five minutes of the contest starting out on a 10-2 run to establish the lead. William Carrey (7-11, SSAC 4-5) got into the game by shaving the Blazer lead to four on a Davaraus Walker jumper making the score 12-8. With 7:25 left in the half, the Blazers enjoyed a 10 point advantage courtesy of a Britton Smith steal leading to a Woodie Howard lay-in. Phillip McKay drained a big three for the Crusaders with 1:59 left in the half, evening the game up at 22 all. Britton Smith then managed to close the half out with a Blazer basket giving Belhaven a one point advantage at the halftime break 27-26.

The second half was more of a ping pong match, with both teams struggling to take complete control of the contest. In the second half alone there were nine lead changes and 5 tied marks. Roderick Little got hot in the second half for the Crusaders, scoring back to back baskets to give his team a four point lead with 15:40 to go. Douglas LaRue then gave the Crusaders their largest lead of the night at seven, 41-34. With five minutes left in the contest the Blazers got on track taking a one point lead on a Jordan Butts three pointer. The Blazers wouldn't relinquish the lead after that point stretching their advantage out to 10 from four straight made free throws by Jordan Butts. The Crusaders did manage to hit a basket with just three seconds left, but it wouldn't be enough as the Blazers captured the 68-60 win.

The Blazers shot 41.5% from the floor with senior Daryl Arnold and junior Jordan Butts leading the way with 18 points apiece.  Arnold managed to snatch five rebounds while Butts saw a season high in points, going three of four from three point land. Britton Smith closed out the double digit scoring for the Blazers with 11 points. Senior Woodie Howard dropped in eight points while tying with three other Blazers in the game high for rebounds with five; Arnold, Butts and Datrodrick Pinkston. Chris Cofield shared the slot for team high in assists with Butts at four.

Here is what head Coach Tom Kelsey had to say after the contest. “I think the guys played really well during the second half. For the first half we were a little bit stagnant but in the second half, we came out, especially the last ten minutes, really hard making some big plays. William Carey played really well, they didn't beat themselves, I think our guys, and especially the defense did a great job. We missed a lot of free throws and in the last minutes we made a lot of hustle plays. Our guys did a really good job all the way to the end."

William Carrey University was led by Donzedrick Smith with 18 points and six rebounds. Following Smith was Roderick Little with 12 points and six rebounds. Closing out the double digit scoring for the Crusaders was Douglas LaRue with 11 points. William Carey did manage to win the points in the paint battle at 38-18.

Belhaven will be back in action on Saturday afternoon as they take on Loyola University New Orleans for another SSAC West Division matchup in Rugg Arena. Game-time is slated for 4:00 PM. Fans can follow all the action through live stats by clicking here.