JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven Blazers men's basketball team played host to the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Cru on Thursday, January 9, and the Blazers came with a hard-fought 75-71 victory on the hardwood.

The Blazers came out in the first half with a strong showing including back-to-back three point field goals by freshman guard Luke Couch and senior guard Justin Jones to give an early 6-0 lead. The Blazers carried that momentum and pushed the lead to 13-2 with 13:16 left on the clock in the first half; however, the Cru fought back and went on a 19-2 scoring run to take a 19-18 lead after a successful free throw attempt with 5:29 remaining in the first period. The Blazers regained the lead as senior guard Rick Hodum drained a three point field goal on their next possession and the team never looked back pushing the lead to 34-29 going into the locker room at halftime.

Both teams came out of the locker rooms with strong showings trading baskets in the opening minutes of the second half; however, the Blazers pushed their lead to 53-44 after a three point field goal from senior guard Brosnan Cooks with 12:41 left in the game. The Cru then responded with a 12-4 scoring run cutting the Blazers lead to 57-56 with 9:01 remaining, but the Blazers responded with a 13-7 scoring run increasing their lead to 72-63 with 2:59 left. The teams traded baskets throughout the remainder of the game, but the Cru only got with two points late in the game as the Blazer sealed the 75-71 victory as Jones connected with Cooks for the final score of the game with 18 seconds remaining.

Cooks led the Blazers in points and rebounds with 15 and nine respectively while also adding six assists and one steal, while senior guard Trai James led the team in assists with ten paired with eight rebounds and two points on the night. Jones added 14 points with one rebound, one assist, and one steal, junior guard Joshua Roberts had 12 points with three rebounds, two assists, and one steal, while freshman guard Luke Couch had 11 points, four rebounds, two steals, and one assists on the night. Senior guard Rick Hodum had seven points, freshman guard Matthew McMillan had six points, junior forward Brandon Phillips had five points, sophomore guard Nehemiah Womack, and guard Ryan Dupree added one point to round out the scoring for the Blazers.

As a team, the Blazers went 25-for-64 for a percentage of 39.1 from the floor including 11-for-31 for a percentage of 35.5 from the three point area, and were 14-for-18 for a percentage of 77.8 from the charity stripe. The Blazers scored 28 points in the paint, had 21 points off turnovers, six second chance points, five fast break points, and 21 points from their bench.

The Blazers improve to 5-7 overall and 2-1 in American Southwest Conference play and will return to action on Saturday, January 11, as they host the Concordia University Tornadoes. The action is set for a 3 p.m., tip inside Rugg Arena.

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