BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The Belhaven Blazers fell to host Birmingham-Southern College 73-81 on the opening day of the BSC Black Tie Invitational Thursday night.
 
The Blazers matched the Panthers for the first 10 minutes of the opening half, but BSC pulled away by an 11-point advantage heading into the break.
 
Belhaven closed the gap in the second half, cutting a 16-point lead down to six with 2:43 remaining, but were unable to get any closer over the final minutes.
 
De'la Mayers led the Blazers with 19 points in the contest, missing a double-double by one rebound, finishing with nine boards. Mayers also had four steals, three assists and a block.
 
Three other Blazers finished in double figures as Belhaven shot 50 percent from the field in the game.
 
Josh Gaskin had 18 points and four rebounds. Josh Carpenter and Dyron Anderson had 15 and 10 points, respectively, with each grabbing five rebounds in the game.
 
Belhaven was outrebounded in the contest 37-30, but the Blazers had 11 steals to force 17 total turnovers by the Panthers.
 
The Blazers will return to action on Friday, with a game against Berea (Ky.) College set for 5 p.m. at Bill Battle Coliseum.