Box Score
JACKSON, Miss- The Belhaven men's basketball team endured its third straight lost against Faulkner University Saturday night 73-69 in Southern States Athletic Conference play in Rugg Arena. The Blazers dropped to the third slot in Southern States Athletic Conference West Division play after holding first place for six consecutive games.

The Blazers had a rough first half only scoring 28points on 10 of 25 (40%) shooting from the floor. Belhaven (14-14, SSAC 9-8) found themselves down 10 in the contest with less than ten minutes to play in the half.  Faulkner's Jake Mitchell gave the Eagles their largest lead of the first half at 20, 36-16 with 3:39 to go. Senior Woodie Howard then hit a three to spark a 12-2 run by the Blazers to close out the first half, shaving the Eagles lead down to 10 making the score 38-28 at the halftime break.

Faulkner (14-12, SSAC 7-9) would continue to control the second half by shooting 54.2% from the floor. Birama Konate got a layup to keep the Eagles out in front by nine at 45-36. Belhaven would respond putting them within one point of the Eagles on a Daryl Arnold steal and a pair of free throws making it 57-56 with 7:11 left. Both teams suffered a three minute drought with neither team scoring a basket until Decorey Jones broke the silence with a three to put the Eagles up three. With 1:52 left to go, the Blazers made the score 63-61 thanks to another Woodie Howard three pointer. The Eagles then stretched the lead out to eight with a Jarmarious Alderson lay-in with 33 seconds left in the contest. Senior Daryl Arnold drained a three to pull the Blazers within five, followed by a Chris Coefield steal leading to a Jordan Butts basket making it a two point game with 11 seconds left. However it wouldn't be enough as the Blazers ran out of time as Faulkner drained four consecutive free-throws to claim the 73-69 win.

Belhaven was led on the offensive end of the floor by senior guard Woodie Howard with 24 points, knocking down six three pointers in the contest. Senior Daryl Arnold tabbed 15 points and five rebounds while senior Britton Smith had 10 points with five rebounds. Sophomore guard Chris Coefield led the team in assists with five while junior Andrew Marshall snatched a team high 10 rebounds. The Blazers shot 40.4% from the floor and out-rebounded the Eagles 39-25 with 21 of those rebounds being offensive.

Chris Palmore had a team high 18 points for the Eagles with six rebounds. Following Palmore was Adam Okechukwu with 15 points. Jamarious Alderson rounded out the double figure scoring for the Eagles with 11 points while Jake Mitchell claimed a team best six assists. Faulkner shot 40.4% for the contest while making 16-21 of their free throws at 76.2%. The Eagles did force the Blazers into 23 turnovers which translated into 29 points.

Belhaven will look to get back on track on Thursday when they travel to Mobile, AL to take on Spring Hill College in the last regular season game before SSAC Conference tournament play. Thursday's game will be key for the Blazers in regards to a spot in the SSAC tournament. Tip-off is set for 7:30 PM.