JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven men's basketball team escaped with a 100-98 victory on Saturday night, defeating crosstown rival Tougaloo College at a packed Rugg Arena. The Blazers have now won two of their last three, with the lone loss coming in the final seconds on the road against 3rd-ranked LSU-Shreveport.

"I couldn't be more proud of the way our players competed down the stretch after a heartbreaking loss on Thursday," Head Coach Jonathan Vines said. "I told our guys that the ultimate character test is how we respond to adversity, and we did that tonight. This is a great win for Belhaven."

Jordan Bedford connected on 13 of his 24 shots to lead all scorers with 32 points, five shy of his career best. The senior guard played 36 minutes, more than every player on the floor excepted Tougaloo's Trevis Thomas.

"It's no secret that he's our best player, and he's going to draw every opponent's best defender," Vines said. "When you consider the doubleteams he draws and the points he's still able to score, it's nothing short of miraculous."

De'la Mayers followed with 20 points to go with his game-high 14 rebounds for his first double-double in a Blazers uniform. Jerrial Dawson, Datodrick Pinkston, and Dycus Juste added a combined 39 points, including 18 from behind the three point arc.

Four Bulldogs found their way into double figures in the points category, highlighted by Trevis' Thomas 25 and Kelsey Howard's 23. Howard sunk ten of his 11 free throws to help Tougaloo to a 77% from the charity stripe.

Belhaven took a 36-25 advantage in rebounds, while the Bulldogs won the turnover battle by a tally of 21-13. The Blazers shot 63% from the field, easily besting Tougaloo's 31-of-62 effort, while the home team also connected on four more three pointers than their guests.

The Blazers return to action on Tuesday, when they host Texas College at Rugg Arena at 7:30 pm. Belhaven won the previous meeting 87-84 in the game's final minute on November 11th this year.