Box Score
JACKSON, Miss.- The Belhaven men's basketball team raced out to an 18 point first half lead, but had to hold on tight for a 72-69 win in overtime against Southern States Athletic Conference foe Loyola University (NO) Thursday night in Rugg Arena. The Blazers are now 3-2 in overtime contests this season and the senior night victory could not have come at a better time.

Belhaven is now in fifth place in the West Division with a one game lead over the University of Mobile for the final playoff spot. Thursday's win kept the Blazers alive for a chance at the playoffs heading into the final game of the regular season at Faulkner University (Ala.) on Saturday.

Belhaven (12-17, 8-9 SSAC) fired out of the gate on an 8-0 run and did not allow Loyola to score for nearly three minutes. Junior Luke Rogers dialed up a three pointer at the 19:39 mark to get things rolling for the Blazers and then senior Jordan Butts filled up three pointer of his own to cap the burst at the 17:50 mark of the first half.

The Blazers increased the lead to double digits for the first time on senior Terence Stringfellow's jumper with 8:01 to play until the half. Leading 24-13, Belhaven's offense continued to run on all cylinders, opening up a 32-14 advantage with the first half clock showing 6:29.

Loyola (15-12, 9-8 SSAC) chipped seven points off the deficit going into the break, down 40-29 going into the locker room. The Wolfpack outscored the Blazers 15-8 down the stretch with Kyle Simmons banking in a layup for their final bucket of the half.

Belhaven regained the momentum early in the final period and in the process reconstructed an 18 lead at 47-29, thanks to a pair of free throws by Butts. However, Loyola managed to hang around and began to cut into the deficit. A triple by Mason Ibert brought the Wolfpack to within single digits for the first time since the midway point of the first half at 54-47 with 9:43 to play.

From the point on, Belhaven could never rebuild more than a nine point edge. Loyola continued the charge and with just under four minutes to go, closed the gap to one possession at 60-58. Cameron Hill was able to draw a foul on Butts and sank two shots at the free throw line.

The Blazers held two four point leads until the end of regulation, but the Wolfpack reeled off the final four points of the second half to send the game into overtime. Trailing 64-62, Loyola's defense forced a turnover setting up the equalizing layup from McCall Tomeny. With the game tied at 64-64, Belhaven had one more chance to win the contest in regulation, but a pair of field goals by junior Chris Cofield were off the mark.

The Blazers picked themselves off the mat in overtime and pulled back in front on a conventional three point play by sophomore Datodrick Pinkston. The Wolfpack rallied with the next three points in OT and locked the score at 67-67 on a Hill layup with 2:40 on the clock.

The two teams traded baskets on the next two possessions leaving the game tied for the third time at 69-69. However, the Blazers would grab the lead for good when Butts buried a layup with 1:31 left in OT and junior Curt Hall capped the scoring with a free throw with 13 seconds left. Once last chance for Loyola to tie the game went by the boards when a three point attempt by Simmons fell off target with four seconds to play. Butts secured the win with a rebound as time expired.

Cofield led all scorers with 23 points on 9 of 19 shooting from the field, including 3 for 4 from three point range. Cofield's point total was a season high and tied his career high for most points in a game. Not only was Cofield active in the points department, he also grabbed nine rebounds and dished out three assists.

Butts followed Cofield with 18 points and had a team high five assists while Pinkston delivered 16 points and eight rebounds off the bench. Hall ended the night with six points and equaled Cofield with nine rebounds.

The Blazers finished the night shooting 40.9% from the field (27-66) and made 40% of their triples (6-15). Belhaven converted 12 of 19 attempts at the charity stripe (63.2%)

Loyola was guided by Tomeny with 20 points followed by Hill with 16 points and Robert Lovaglio with 11 points. Hill and Tomeny each had nine rebounds and as a team the Wolfpack out-rebounded the Blazers 45-41. Winning the battle of the boards was the key to Loyola's rally with 16 of their rebounds coming on the offensive end of the floor. They led to 26 second chance points and 48 points in the paint. The Wolfpack fired in 41.5% of their shots from the field (27-65).

Belhaven's regular season finale at Faulkner is slated to get underway at 4:00 PM.