Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.- The Belhaven men's basketball team rallied from a 44-34 halftime deficit to pull out an 86-85 win in overtime against the College of Coastal Georgia Saturday night in Rugg Arena. The win moves to the Blazers to 4-3 overall and 2-0 in Southern States Athletic Conference contests. Curt Hall had the game winning layup with 5.1 seconds left in OT to record the win.

After an emotional 75-73 victory over 6th ranked Southern Polytechnic State University Friday night, Belhaven appeared to be a little sluggish in the first half against Coastal Georgia (0-5, 0-2 SSAC). The Blazers largest lead of the first half was three points at 10-7, and occurred at the 15:38 mark. The Mariners grabbed a 16-13 advantage on a three pointer by Jevan Billinger with 12:11 to play until the break. With the exception of two ties, Coastal Georgia stayed in front for the remainder of the half.

The Mariners boasted their largest lead of the night at 42-26 with 2:47 to go until halftime following a layup by Kentorey Johnson. Johnson's basket capped a 17-1 run for Coastal Georgia that began with just under six minutes and a tie score of 25-25. Belhaven began to make up some ground in the remaining minutes with an 8-2 run which culminated in a dunk by Hall with five seconds to go in the half.

Hall's slam helped reenergize the Blazers who came out with a renewed focus in the second half. Slowly but surely, Belhaven began to chip away at the deficit and with 8:42 left to play found themselves with a 61-60 lead on a dunk by Deon Bedford. A quick 6-1 scoring burst briefly sent the Mariners ahead 66-62, but back came the Blazers to grab a 69-68 lead on another dunk by Hall with 5:21 to go.

The game had the makings of another nail biter when Coastal Georgia took a 72-69 advantage with 2:43 left on a layup by Reggie Burke. At that point, both offenses stalled with the exception of Jonathan Ratliff's triple that knotted the game at 72-72 with 2:01 until the final buzzer. Both teams had opportunities to end the game in regulation, but couldn't finish on the offensive end of the floor. Jordan Butts was unable to put down a layup in traffic with 11 seconds to go and then the Mariners got two shots away before the horn sounded. Billinger's three pointer went off target and a put back by Burke at the buzzer didn't go in, sending the game to overtime.

Three lead changes and two ties occurred during the five minute overtime span as the game went back and forth all the way to the end. Coastal Georgia enjoyed a 85-82 lead with 1:32 to play after P.J. Reason drilled a three from the right wing. Ratliff countered with two free throws for the Blazers to cut the deficit to 85-84 on the ensuing possession. The Mariners had a couple of chances to seal the game, but a missed triple by Reason and an errant free throw by Johnson left the door cracked open.

Johnson's free throw miss came with just 14 seconds on the clock and Ratliff grabbed the rebound, starting a quick break up the floor. Butts lobbed a pass to Hall on the right block who in turn banked in what would be the game winning shot. On top of that, Hall was fouled by Johnson on the play and given a chance to add one more point at the free throw line. Hall's foul shot ended up missing the mark, but that proved to be a silver lining for Belhaven. Bedford knifed through the defenders, grabbed the offensive rebound and avoided being fouled as time ran out giving Belhaven the victory.

“Our guys really battled in the second half tonight,” said Belhaven Head Coach Aiken following Saturday's game. “We used a lot of emotional energy to beat Southern Poly and we came out flat in the first half. Jonathan Ratliff and Curt Hall were really good for us tonight. Ratliff made big shot after big shot and Curt continues to just be a really solid all-around player for us. It's always nice to see four guys in double figures scoring, I feel like we are starting to figure out a rotation and this was definitely a great team win. This makes three overtime games in the last two weeks; I feel like we are growing through these early season tests and am excited to see how we stack up against some of the nation's best next week.”

Belhaven was led by Ratliff who had 21 points and four rebounds on the night; despite picking up three first half fouls. Hall posted a double double with 20 points and 10 rebounds followed by Bedford with 16 points and nine boards. Datodrick Pinkston added 11 points and three rebounds on the night. Chris Cofield tallied a team best six assists.

Burke had a big night for Coastal Georgia firing in a game high 29 points with nine rebounds and six assists. Johnson notched a double double with 12 points and 16 rebounds.

Belhaven will travel to LSU-Shreveport on Tuesday night to take on the Pilots at 7:30 PM. Fans can catch all the live play-by-play action on the Blazers Sports Network by clicking here.