Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.-The Belhaven men's basketball team took home a thrilling 79-67 overtime win against cross town rival Tougaloo in front of packed house in Rugg Arena Friday night. The Blazers overcame a four point halftime deficit to send the game into the extra frame tied at 63-63.

The first half was a tight back and forth battle with neither side establishing more than a five point edge until late in the period. Belhaven's biggest lead came at the 7:54 mark of the first half when Curt Hall's layup made it a 23-18 game. Tougaloo then turned the tables on the Blazers by producing a 17-4 run, resulting in their largest lead of the first half at 35-27 with 50 seconds on the clock. Belhaven (2-2) rallied to score the final four points of the half on a jump shot by Deon Bedford and two free throws by Chris Cofield, trimming the deficit to 35-31 at break.

Belhaven went back on top with just over 16 minutes to play in the contest when Jordan Butts gave the Blazers a 41-40 edge. At that point, the game went back and forth, much like the beginning of the first half. In the second half alone there were eight ties and eight lead changes.

Tougaloo appeared to be on the inside track to a win when Erik Burks connected on a layup giving a 63-56 advantage to the Bulldogs with 3:57 left on the clock. However, Belhaven had other ideas as the team rallied for the final seven points of regulation to send the game into overtime. Key free throws by Bedford and Curt Hall helped lead the charge setting up the game tying free throw by Butts with 10 seconds left. The Blazers had a chance to win it in regulation, but three other free throws by Butts went off target and kept the game tied at 63-63.

Undeterred, the Blazers put together a near perfect overtime period to take home the victory. Tougaloo scored the first bucket on a dunk by Ben Lewis, but that would be the extent of the offense for the Bulldogs. Bedford tied the game 11 seconds later on a jump shot and then Hall cashed in a pair of free throws with 3:59 on the clock to give Belhaven the lead for good. With just over a minute to play, Hall brought the capacity crowd to its feet on a dunk that put the exclamation point on the night and extended the Blazers advantage to 72-65. The lead eventually turned into the 79-67 win.

Hall ended the night with a game high 25 points on 9 of 12 shooting from the field raising his field goal percentage this season to 73.1 percent. Hall added eight rebounds and a pair of assists to his point total. Butts continued his solid start to the season by firing in 23 points with five assists. Butts is leading the team in scoring through the first four games of the season with a 20.8 points per game average. Bedford rounded out the double digit scorers with 16 points and a game high 14 rebounds. As a team, Belhaven dominated the glass, outrebounding Tougaloo 51-38. The Blazers made 44.6 percent of their field goals and held the Bulldogs to a 32.9 percent shooting clip from the field.

Juan Gray, Cordaryl Campbell, and Erik Burks paced the Bulldogs with 13 points each. Campbell was the team's leading rebounder with eight boards in the contest. Denzel Hardy finished with seven points and seven assists.

Belhaven will be back in action on Tuesday when the team hosts Bethel University (TN) starting at 8:00 PM in Rugg Arena.