MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Belhaven men's basketball team will open up the postseason in the quarterfinals of the Southern States Athletic Conference Championships Thursday afternoon in the Multiplex at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The Blazers, who are the number two seed from the West Division and receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches' Poll, will battle Southern Wesleyan, the three seed from the East.

"Our guys have put together a great second half of the season and have really positioned themselves well going into the conference tournament," Belhaven Head Coach John Aiken said. "This is a veteran team and they have really taken ownership of the ballclub. They have a hunger to go to Montgomery and have a very special week."

Belhaven (16-13, 14-6 SSAC) is riding a two game winning streak coming into the tournament after defeating Loyola University 59-51 and Martin Methodist 67-64 to close the regular season. The Blazers are led by junior guard Jordan Bedford who comes into the game averaging 14.9 points per contest. Two other Blazers are averaging double digits in scoring as well. Senior forward Deon Bedford and junior guard Chris Cofield contribute 12 points and 10.1 points per game respectively. Senior Jonathan Ratliff it is Belhaven's leading rebounder, hauling down an average of 6.2 boards per contest. He also posts 9.6 points per game.

Southern Wesleyan University (16-13, 10-8 SSAC) comes into the tournament fresh off a victory over Southern Polytechnic State University in the regular season finale 71-65. The Warriors are led by Cameron Solomon, who averages 21.8 points per game and is a contender for SSAC Player of the Year honors. Southern Wesleyan also has three players scoring 10 or more points per game. Kenny Holmes, Terrance Hutchins, and Dwayne Bryant chip in 16.1, 12.5, and 10.1 points per game respectively. In fact, Bryant averages a double double each night thanks to 10.8 boards per contest. As a team, the Warriors score 76.4 PPG compared to the Blazers 74.7 PPG output.

"Our side of the bracket is loaded with talented teams and players, including Southern Wesleyan," Aiken added. "The Warriors are highly ranked in several categories and present a big challenge to us in the quarterfinals."

The two teams are no strangers to each other, having played on January 10th in Central S.C. The Blazers got the best of Southern Wesleyan that night 90-78 on the strength of 21 points and six rebounds by Ratliff. Solomon had 20 points for the Warriors while Bryant added 12 points and 12 rebounds.

Automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament in men's basketball and are awarded to the two SSAC championship game participants. Belhaven or Southern Wesleyan has to win at least two games to punch their ticket to Kansas City, Mo.

Thursday's tip-off is slated for 2:00 PM and fans can catch all the play-by-play action on the Blazers Sports Network by clicking here. The SSAC tournament schedule can be viewed by clicking here.

"We started this season by committing our year to getting to Montgomery and committing our plans to the Lord," Aiken said. "We used Psalm 37:5 as our verse for the year and we are trusting Him to work through us to His glory."