Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.- The Belhaven men's basketball team fell to Xavier University (LA) at home Monday afternoon by the final of 73-63. The Blazers hung with the 16th ranked Gold Rush for most of the contest, but Xavier was able to pull away down the stretch to take home the victory.

Belhaven (6-9) was in a bind early with Xavier (12-3) exploding out to a 10-0 lead before Datodrick Pinskton stopped the bleeding with the Blazers first bucket at the 15:32 mark of the first half. Three point shooting enabled Belhaven to get back in the game and take the lead mid-way through the first half. The Blazers hit four triples in the span of two minutes to grab a 22-21 edge. Jerrial Dawson dialed up a trio of treys and Jonathan Ratliff drilled the go ahead bucket with 9:52 on the clock. Belhaven went 7 of 16 behind the arc in the first half.

The Gold Rush bounced back to establish a 35-30 lead with 2:32 to go until the break before Jordan Butts tied it up at 38-38 on a jumper with 46 seconds left in the half. Anthony Boswell answered the Butts basket with a layup a few seconds before the buzzer, sending Xavier into the locker room with a 40-38 lead.

Belhaven stayed close to Xavier through the first 12 minutes of the second half, but could never recapture the lead in the final 20 minutes of action. With the game tied at 53-53 with 7:58 to play, the Gold Rush went on an 8-1 run to take a 61-54 lead. Xavier eventually widened the gap to 72-61 on free throws by Wanto Joseph with 40 seconds left to seal the game.

Belhaven was led by Butts with 19 points followed by a double double performance from Curt Hall, who fired in 14 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. Dawson rounded out the double digit scorers with 12 points, all of them coming from behind the three point line. Belhaven ended the game with a 35 percent field goal shooting percentage (21-60), but really struggled offensively in the second half. The Blazers went cold from three point land going 1 of 13 in the final 20 minutes and ended the day 8 of 29 (27.6%).

Denzell Erves had a game high 23 points and 15 rebounds to pace Xavier. Wanto Joseph posted 18 points and Renard Smith added 12. The Gold Rush was 26 of 50 (52%) from the field in the game and connected on 61.9% of their shots in the first half. Xavier also held the edge in rebounding 42-36.

Belhaven will hit the court again on Friday when the team hosts Lee University in a Southern States Athletic Conference contest slated for 7:30 PM in Rugg Arena.