Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.- The Belhaven men's basketball team had its three game winning streak snapped by the University of Mobile Thursday night, losing 65-59 in Southern States Athletic Conference action in Rugg Arena. The streak started with a 68-58 win over Brewton-Parker College back on January 5th.

Mobile (11-6, 5-4 SSAC West) started the game strong scoring the first three points of the night on a layup by Kevin Calloway and a free throw from Marcus Polnett. However, Belhaven (9-11, 5-3 SSAC West) answered on a triple by senior Jordan Butts to tie the contest at 3-3 with 17:30 play until the break. Calloway broke the tie for the Rams a few seconds later to make it 5-3 and from that point on Mobile was in front all the way to the final shot of the half.

The Rams constructed their largest advantage of the half at 19-9 following a layup out the hand of Julien Sargent with 9:48 on the clock. The Blazers then went to work, clawing their way back to within two at 21-19 with just under seven minutes left in the first half. The 10-2 burst was capped on a jumper by junior Chris Cofield.

Belhaven managed to stay within a possession of Mobile until the Rams bumped their edge back out to a 30-23 edge with 2:56 on the first half clock. Belhaven executed another solid run, this time a 9-2 surge that resulted in a 32-32 tie at the half. In fact, the Blazers scored the final seven points with five of them landing on the board in the last 10 seconds. Sophomore Jerrial Dawson sank three free throws and then a steal by junior Curt Hall setup up a layup by Butts as time expired.

Belhaven's solid played carried over into the second half with the team grabbing its first lead of the night. Sophomore Datodrick Pinkston cashed in a layup followed by a Butts layup to make it a 36-32 contest favoring the Blazers. Mobile bounced back in front 37-36 on a free throw by Calloway, but the Blazers quickly reeled off six straight points leading to their largest advantage of the night at 42-37.

Unfortunately, Belhaven was unable to deliver the knockout punch and keep the momentum going. Mobile called a 30 second timeout and out of the break ran off five straight points to tie the score with 11:24 to play. The game was deadlocked on three more separate occasions over the next four minutes before the Rams took the lead for good.

Mobile's Brandon Morris sunk a triple to make it 51-48 with 7:03 left in the contest and from there the Rams never looked back. Belhaven kept it close down the stretch and were within two points at 59-57 thanks to three free throws by Dawson with just over two minutes left in the contest. Unfortunately, four quick points by Mobile sealed the Blazers fate and with time running down they just didn't have enough firepower to bounce back.

Dawson led all scorers Thursday night on the strength 17 points off the bench for Belhaven. Dawson was a perfect 11 for 11 at the free line and 2 of 6 from the field. Both of those shots came from behind the three point arc. Butts followed with 16 points and Cofield rounded out the double digit scorers with 10 points. Pinkston guided the Blazers on the glass with six rebounds while chipping in seven points and three assists.

Overall, Belhaven's offense had a tough time against a stingy Mobile defense. The Blazers shot 38.3% percent from the field (18 of 47) and were cold from three point range where they went 3 of 14 (21.4%). The Blazers were able to keep themselves in the game at the free throw line, converting 20 of 26 attempts (76.9%). Belhaven ended the night with 20 turnovers compared to nine assists.

Mobile had four players in double figures, led by Kwame Beard with 12 points and 12 rebounds. Marucs Polnett delivered 11 points while Brandon Morris and Julien Sargent chipped in 10 points each. The Rams shot at a 46.2% clip from the field (24 of 52) and out-rebounded Belhaven 39-30.

The Blazers will look to regroup on Saturday when they travel to Auburn-Montgomery for another SSAC showdown beginning at 4:00 PM.