JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven University men's basketball team won a thrilling basketball game over the Rhodes College Lynx on Tuesday night inside of Rugg Arena by a final score of 82-76.
With the win, Belhaven improved to 2-4 overall on the season
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INSIDE THE MATCHUP
Final: Belhaven 82, Rhodes College 76
Records: Belhaven 2-4, Rhodes College 2-6
Location: Rugg Arena | Jackson, Miss.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Blazers and the Lynx exchanged multiple leads throughout the first 10 minutes of the game, with Rhodes holding a slight 17-14 lead after a layup from Preston Giroux with 9:59 remaining in the first half.
- While the Lynx moved the ball around a ton and with sufficient speed, Belhaven did not seem fazed by the style of play as they matched the intensity, working the game back to a tie at 29-29 with the help of a jumper and free throw attempt from Kelvin Pruitt.
- Rhodes extended its lead to 37-31 with 1:03 left until the break, yet Belhaven's Joseph Jones knocked down three free throws in the remaining few seconds of the first period to send Belhaven into the locker room trailing by a 37-34 score.
- The Blazers opened up the second half with a 10-0 run out of the gate, taking a 44-37 lead.
- Within a matter of moments, the Lynx used two consecutive runs, a 13-2 run and a 7-2 run to regain a commanding lead over Belhaven, 57-48 with 13:27 left in the contest.
- Yet once again, Belhaven went on another run, this time a 9-0 run over the next three and a half minutes to tie Rhodes back up at 57-57.
- Neither team could separate from the other down the stretch. Brosnan Cooks used a layup to pull Belhaven within a 67-66 score with four minutes remaining. That would not be Cooks last basket of the night.
- Over the remaining four minutes of the game, Brosnan Cooks outscored the entire Lynx basketball team 14-9, while scoring 14 of Belhaven's 18 points in the final minutes to lift the Blazers to an 82-76 victory over Rhodes.
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KEY STATISTICS
- Brosnan Cooks dominance in the final four minutes of a game allowed him to finish with team highs in field goals (10-of-11), steals (3), free throws (8-of-9), free throw percentage (88%), and total points (28) along with a shooting percentage of 91 percent.
- Additionally, Belhaven trailed 67-64 with four minutes left until Cooks surged with 14 points and two keys steals that ultimately put the game out of reach for Belhaven.
- Kelvin Pruitt had 15 points and one steal. Joseph Jones was 3-for-3 from the field with 10 points.
- Joshua Roberts and Joseph Jones each had two steals. Jones also finished with 9 points on the night. Rick Hodum ended his night with 7 points and a team high 6 rebounds.
- As a team, Belhaven was 26-of-50 (52.0%) from the field, 4-of-20 (20.0%) in three-pointers, and 26-of-37 (70.3%) from the free throw line.
- Additionally, Belhaven received 33 fast break points and had 40 points in the paint. There were 15 lead changes in the game.
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UP NEXT
Belhaven will travel to Alpine, Texas next Thursday, December 13, to take on ASC opponent Sul Ross State. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.
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