Box Score KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Belhaven men's basketball team had its season come to a close Thursday night in the opening round of the NAIA Division I Basketball National Championship. The Blazers fell to the number four seed in the tournament Columbia College, by the final of 81-57. The Cougars stormed out to a 25 point lead at the break and never looked back.

(Box Score-HTML)
"I thought our guys were prepared for the moment, but we got down early and couldn't recover," Belhaven Head Coach John Aiken said. "I thought we missed some easy shots early and struggled at the free throw line to start the game. Things began to snowball from there and before we knew it we were down 20 points. It's hard to come back from a deficit like that against a great team like Columbia."

Columbia (32-2) rolled out to a 6-0 lead before Belhaven (18-15) cracked the scoreboard on a triple by Jonathan Ratliff with 17:51 left in the first half to make it 6-3. The Blazers had a chance to stop the early momentum by the Cougars, but some missed shots in the paint and at the free throw line took the wind out of their sails.

The Cougars went up 22-12 on a jumper by Devin Griffin with just over 11 minutes left in the half before expanding it to 37-17 on a triple by Griffin with just over six to go. Belhaven could do nothing to stop the Columbia, who controlled a 49-24 lead at halftime. The Cougars led by as many as 27 in the first half until a layup by senior Curt Hall at the buzzer cut the deficit to 25. The Blazers didn't threaten the rest of the way.

Hall led Belhaven with 15 points followed by senior Deon Bedford who poured in 14 points and grabbed a team high six rebounds. Bedford also contributed a pair of blocked shots and came up with two steals. Senior Chris Cofield matched Bedford's rebound totals in addition to eight points. Junior's Jerrial Dawson and Jordan Bedford each chipped in six points.

As a team, the Blazers were limited to a 33.3% shooting night from the field (21-63) while converting 50% of their free throws (11-22). Belhaven was out-rebounded by Columbia 52-32 and had a hard time keeping the Cougars out of the paint. Columbia scored 50 of their points from point blank range.

Columbia was led by Jeremy Nolen with 15 points followed by Griffin and Derrick Dilworth with 14 apiece. Patric Massey added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the double double. Chantel Stanciel had eight points, seven rebounds, and dished out seven assists. The Cougars were on target from the field 52.2% of the time (36-69) and made 60% of their free throws (3-5).

Belhaven fell to 1-4 in NAIA Division I National Championship games and are still searching for the first win in tournament play since 1972. The Blazers have made the tournament field in three of the last five seasons.

"I'm still proud of our guys and how they played tonight and this season," Aiken added. "I told the team in the locker, I'd much rather finish the season in Kansas City than somewhere else."