Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.- The Belhaven men's basketball team remained in the top spot in Southern States Athletic Conference West Division play with a win over the University of Mobile Thursday night 63-54. The Blazers get their 8th consecutive win and increase their margin in SSAC West Division play to two games over the second place Rams.

Thursday's contest didn't display much offense as both teams struggled on offensive from the floor. In the first, Belhaven only went 8-34 at 23% while Mobile (11-13, 7-7 SSAC) only hit 30 percent of its field goals. The first half was evenly played as neither team managed to gain any real control in the contest. The Blazers held the lead up until the 13:11 mark when Brock Dockery hit a three to put the Rams up two points 12-10. Junior Andrew Marshall put the Blazers back on top with a lay-in making it 22-20 with 4:37 to go in the first half. Antonio Hester then got a basket to put the Rams back out in front 24-22. Hester's basket would be the last of the half as the Rams held a two point edge going into the break.

The second half was played just as evenly as the first in the early moments. Both teams traded baskets until the 5:24 mark when the Blazers exploded on a 10-0 run to giving them a ten point advantage with 2:11 remaining in the contest. The Blazers managed to close out the game when senior Daryl Arnold knocked in a pair of free throws and junior Jordan Butts connected on a lay-in to give the Blazers their largest lead at 11 with 32 seconds left to play. Antonio Hester scored a basket for the Rams in the closing seconds trimming the lead to nine, but it wouldn't be enough as the Blazers captured the 63-54 win.

Belhaven (14-11, 9-5 SSAC) was led by Senior Daryl Arnold with 23 points and nine rebounds. Following Arnold was junior Andrew Marshall who claimed a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Senior Woodie Howard tossed in eight points and eight rebounds while senior Britton Smith chipped in with five points. The Blazers shot 33.8% from the floor and claimed a free throw percentage of 68. Belhaven had a slight edge in rebounding at 47-45 with 20 of them coming on the offensive end of the floor.

Antonio Hester led all scorers with a game high 30 points and 18 rebounds. Mobile's Brock Dockery followed Hester with 8 points while Ji Kimbrough snatched 11 rebounds. The Rams shot 36.5% from the floor while shooting 25% from the charity stripe.

The Blazers will travel to William Carey on Saturday night for another SSAC West Division match-up. Game time is slated for 7:30 PM.