Box Score
CLEVELAND, Miss.- The Belhaven men's basketball team was on the short end of an 81-73 decision in an exhibition game at NCAA Division II Delta State University Saturday afternoon.
The game went back and forth early until Delta State (4-5) made claim to a 21-13 lead at the 11:17 mark of the first half. Five minutes later, Belhaven (6-8) chopped the deficit down to two points on a pair of
Chris Cofield free throws to make it a 26-24 contest.
With just under five minutes to go until the break,
Jerrial Dawson tied the game at 28 all on a triple and then the Blazers went in front 31-30 on a Cofield layup.
Curt Hall added to the advantage on a layup with 3:05 left in the half giving the Blazers their largest lead of the game at 33-30. Unfortunately, the lead would be short lived due to a 4-0 Delta State run that eventually turned into a 12-5 scoring spurt to close the half. The Statesman enjoyed a 42-38 lead thanks to the late offensive burst.
The Statesman carried the momentum into the second half and never relinquished the advantage the rest of the way. Delta State led by as many as 11 points and never allowed Belhaven to get any closer than four over the final 20 minutes.
Hall guided the Belhaven offense with 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field.
Jordan Butts followed with 15 points and Cofield ended the night with 14 points.
Deon Bedford chipped in eight points and had a team high eight rebounds with five of his boards coming on the offensive end of the floor. As a team, Belhaven connected on 43.9% of its shot attempts (25-57) and out-rebounded the Statesman 36-32.
Delta State was paced by Terry Leake with a game high 25 points and 13 rebounds. Ryan Smith contributed 21 points and Matt Albritton fired in 15 points in the victory. Cornell Knight led all players with nine assists. The Statesman had a solid shooting night from the field where they were able to make good on 50.9% percent of their attempts (29-57).
Belhaven will be back in action on Monday when the team hosts Xavier University (LA) in Rugg Arena starting at 2:00 PM.
