Box Score JACKSON, Miss. – The Belhaven men's basketball team kept a grip on third place and remain just a half game out of second place in the Southern States Athletic Conference West Division standings, thanks to a 75-72 win at Blue Mountain College Saturday afternoon. The Blazers, holding a 17 point lead with six minutes left, survived a late run by the Toppers to escape with the victory.

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"The guys found a way to gut out another road win," said Belhaven Head Coach John Aiken. "We made it pretty interesting down the stretch, but we made plays when we needed to."

Belhaven (13-11, 11-5 SSAC) was caught off guard in the opening two minutes when Blue Mountain (6-19, 1-14 SSAC) stormed out the gate on an 8-0 run. The Toppers pushed the lead to 13-4 with 14:35 remaining in the opening half before the Blazers got back on their feet.

At that point, the defense tightened down and the offense heated up resulting in a 13-0 run. Junior Dycus Juste put Belhaven in front with a triple and senior Luke Rogers capped the offensive burst on a layup with just over nine minutes remaining until the break. The Blazers eventually turned a 17-13 advantaged into a 33-23 lead at the break and appeared to be in the driver's seat with momentum on their side.

The Blazers continued to pile on the points early in the second half and suddenly had 21 points of separation. Junior Jerrial Dawson's triple gave Belhaven its largest lead of the night at 54-33 with 14:19 to play.

Blue Mountain only managed to trim four points off the deficit with just over six minutes remaining. However, trailing 62-45, the Toppers countered with an 18-2 run and nearly overtook the Blazers at the three minute mark. Jarvis Fisher converted two free throw attempts to slice what had been a 21 point Belhaven lead down to one at 64-63 with 3:01 on the clock.

The Blazers countered with the next four points on free throws by junior Datodrick Pinkston and a field goal from senior Deon Bedford to avoid disaster. Bedford put the Blazers up by seven again (72-65) on a layup with 23 seconds left. The three possession deficit proved to be too much to overcome for the Toppers as Belhaven slipped by with the three point win.

Deon Bedford had a season high 27 points and did not miss a basket from the field going 12 for 12 on the afternoon. In addition, Bedford led the Blazers on the boards with eight rebounds. "Deon Bedford had one of the best nights any player could have, hitting every one of his shots from the field (12-12)," Aiken added. "It was an incredible individual performance."

Senior Jonathan Ratliff chipped in eight points, added six rebounds, and dished out four assists. Dawson also contributed eight points while Pinkston and senior Chris Cofield notched seven points apiece.

As a team, the Blazers hit 51.9% percent of their field goals (28-54) and converted 80% of their attempts at the charity stripe (12-15). Belhaven was out-rebounded by Blue Mountain 37-32.

The Toppers were guided by Shane Butler's 22 points on 9 of 20 shooting from the field. DeVante' Pulliam and Jarvis Fisher followed with 14 points and 13 points respectively. Anfernee Sheppard pulled down a game high nine rebounds. Belhaven's defense held Blue Mountain to a 38.7% shooting clip from the field (24-62).

Belhaven will be back in action on Thursday night when the team returns home to face the University of Mobile in Rugg Arena. The Blazers won the first battle of the year 85-69 on January 30th in Mobile. Thursday's tip-off is slated for 7:30 PM.

"We have put ourselves in a great position for a spot in the conference tournament, but we have to continue to focus and play well Thursday night against Mobile," Aiken said.