Box Score NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Belhaven men's basketball team rallied from a 14 point first half deficit for a 78-63 Southern States Athletic Conference win at Loyola University (NO) Thursday night. The Blazers moved into second place in the SSAC West division thanks to the victory and a Bethel win over Martin Methodist.

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"This was an outstanding team win and the guys really locked in during the second half and put together a great 20 minutes of basketball," said Belhaven Head Coach John Aiken. "I'm proud of how we responded to the halftime deficit. Anytime you have five players score in double digits and dish out 21 assists you know you played great team basketball."

Both teams battled back and forth in the early moments of the game as evidenced by five ties and three lead changes. With the contest knotted at 12-12 with 12:32 left in the first half, Loyola (4-16, 3-10 SSAC) caught fire with a 10-2 run to open up a 10 point advantage. Jared Townsend capped the burst with a field goal that made it a 22-14 game with just under 10 minutes to play before the break.

The Wolfpack built what would be their largest lead of the night following a pair of McCall Tomeny free throws with 4:56 on the clock. Trailing 31-17, Belhaven (11-10, 9-4 SSAC) bounced back by outscoring Loyola 13-7 to close the half leaving the team down by just eight points at 38-30. Chris Cofield started the rally by answering the Tomeny free throws with a field goal and then combined with Datodrick Pinkston to close the half with back to back buckets.

Six minutes into the second half, Cofield stepped up big again when he pulled the Blazers even at 45-45 on an old fashion three point play. It was the opening volley of what would be an 11-2 Belhaven run that turned the tide. Jonathan Ratliff scored points 10 and 11 in the sequence, giving the Blazers a 53-45 lead with 12:21 to play.

Loyola would pull to within one point two more times in the half, but could never regain the edge. Belhaven nursed a 55-54 lead with 9:42 on the clock, but the closing minutes would belong to the Blazers thanks to a 23-9 scoring run to end the game and seal the win. After shooting just 35% from the field in the first half, Belhaven scorched the nets to the tune of a 60.6% percent success rate in the final 20 minutes to complete the comeback victory.

Belhaven had five players in double figures, led by Den Bedford with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Bedford now has back to back double double performances after scoring 16 points with 10 rebounds on Saturday against William Carey. Pinkston followed with 16 points and Cofield added 15 while Jordan Bedford and Jerrial Dawson each contributed 10 points. Pinkston led the team with five assists and three steals.

The Blazers dominated the post in all phases of the game starting on the glass where they out-rebounded the Wolfpack 40-34. Belhaven scored 50 of the 78 points in the paint, 16 points came on fast breaks, and 16 more were generated from Loyola turnovers. The Blazers finished the night connecting on 46.6% of their field goals (34-73).

Loyola (4-16, 3-10) was paced by Tomney with 15 points and seven rebounds. Kyle Simmons and Jalen Gray chipped in 11 points and 10 points respectively for the Wolfpack. Manuel Gandara grabbed eight rebounds and contributed six points. Loyola turned the ball over 16 times and shot 43.1% from the field (22-51).

Belhaven will be back in action Saturday at home against SSAC foe Bethel University (TN) starting at 4:00 PM.

"We have a huge matchup with a Bethel team that is playing very well," added Aiken. "I'm excited for the challenge and hope we can pack the gym for a great environment on Saturday."