Box Score JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven men's basketball team bounced back from a Saturday loss to Bethel University with a resounding 73-53 Southern States Athletic Conference victory over Spring Hill College in Rugg Arena. The Blazers trailed early after a slow start, but picked up the tempo in the second half to lock down the win.

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"I thought or defense played well and we created some problems for them offensively tonight," said Belhaven Head Coach John Aiken. "I'm proud of our effort defensively to hold Spring Hill to 53 points. We haven't played zone a lot this season, but our guys handled it well and that was a big factor in tonight's win."

Neither side had much success on offense early on, especially Belhaven (12-11, 10-5 SSAC), who was held to two points through the first five minutes of the game. Trailing 9-2 with 14:27 left in the first half, the Blazers went on top for the first time with just under four minutes to go until the break. Datodrick Pinkston scored three of his 14 points on a triple to make it a 29-28 contest. The bucket started a 9-2 Belhaven run to close the half, resulting in a 35-30 halftime lead.

Jonathan Ratliff made sure things kept going in the right direction during the opening minutes of the second. Ratliff recorded an old fashion three point play to make it 38-30. The Blazers went on to forge a 47-32 lead following a free throw by Dycus Juste with 11:37 on the clock. It capped an impressive 21-4 run that commenced on the Pinkston three point basket late in the first half.

Belhaven's defense completely shut down the Spring Hill (5-19, 4-10 SSAC) offense, limiting the Badgers to just two second half points through the first eight minutes of the final period. The defense and an energized offense eventually produced a 23 point 63-40 advantage on a Juste three point field goal with 7:40 to play. The Badgers wouldn't threaten the rest of the night.

Chris Cofield and Pinkston tied for the team lead in points Thursday night with each player posting 14 for the Blazers. Ratliff added 13 points and a team high eight rebounds followed by Juste and Deon Bedford with 12 and 11 points respectively. Cofield dished out five assists and Bedford blocked four shots on the night.

As a team, Belhaven made good on 41.8% percent of their shots from the field (23-55) and generated 23 points off of 23 Spring Hill turnovers. The Blazers also held a major advantage at the free throw stripe, converting 70% of their attempts at the line (21-30).

Spring Hill was led by Frederick Gatson with 13 points and the only player to reach double figures in the point column. Alex Looney had six points and a game high 10 rebounds while Robert Gipson chipped in seven points and four assists. The Badgers knocked down just 36.2% of their shots from the field (21-58). They out-rebounded Belhaven 42-34.

Belhaven will hit the road again on Saturday as the team heads north to battle Blue Mountain College at 4:00 PM. The Blazers edged the Toppers 77-70 in their first meeting of the season on January 25th in Rugg Arena.

"Blue Mountain is very similar to Spring Hill and they are in every ballgame," added Aiken. "We are going to have to play really hard and have a playoff mentality, taking things one game at a time."