Box Score JACKSON, Miss. – In a battle between the top two teams in the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division, fifth ranked William Carey got the better of Belhaven 90-70 Saturday afternoon in Rugg Arena. The Blazers winning streak of three games came to a close.

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"It was a frustrating game and I felt like we played very sloppy," said Belhaven Head Coach John Aiken. "We had a lot of unforced turnovers that led to 29 points for them. When you play the fifth ranked team in the country you have to take care of the ball and were weren't able to do that effectively tonight."

Belhaven (10-10, 8-4 SSAC West) never controlled the lead although they stayed in the hunt until midway through the second half. The Blazers found themselves in a hole early with William Carey (15-2, 10-0 SSAC) opening the contest with an 8-0 run. Trailing 27-17, Belhaven reeled off a 7-0 run to climb within three points at 27-24. Jordan Bedford converted a fast break layup to cap the scoring burst.

Unfortunately, three points is the closest the Blazers would get. The Crusaders built a 41-32 advantage at the break before the Blazers trimmed it back to four at 51-47 with 13:16 to go on a free throw from Jordan Bedford. Three minutes later William Carey went up by double digits 60-50 and cruised to the win from there.

Deon Bedford led Belhaven with a double double off the bench, firing in 16 points while corralling 10 rebounds. Jordan Bedford recorded 15 points followed by Datodrick Pinkston with 12 points and Curt Hall with 10. Chris Cofield dished out a team best four assists.

The Blazers out-rebounded the Crusaders 40-30, but hurt themselves with turnovers committing 22 miscues in the game. In terms of shooting, the Blazers made 40.7% of their field goals (24-59), converted 59.4% of their free throws (19-32), and connected on 17.6% of their triples (3-17).

William Carey had five players in double figures led by Jeremiah Dunnings and Detrick Davis with 18 points each. Kelvin Nixon posted 16 points followed by Daron Bell with 14 points and Donovan Walker with 10 points. Bell led the Crusaders on the glass with five rebounds and dished out five assists. William Carey was in the zone from the field making 55.9% percent of their field goals (33-59), 56.3% of their triples, and 62.5% of their free throws (15-24).

Belhaven will look to bounce back on Thursday when the team heads to New Orleans, LA to battle Loyola University in another SSAC showdown. The tip-off is slated for 7:30 PM.

"We'll get back to work now and get ready for Loyola," added Aiken. "We'll have to play better when we hit the floor again on Thursday night."