JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven Blazers men's basketball team played host to the Concordia University Tornadoes on Saturday, January 11, and came away with an 83-80 victory on the hardwood to earn their second straight win in American Southwest Conference play.

The Blazers started the game with a strong offensive output earning a 14-4 lead with 15:13 left in the first half. The Tornadoes responded with a 17-4 scoring run to take a 21-18 lead with 9:21 remaining in the first half; however, the Blazers responded by knotting up the score on their next possession as senior guard Rick Hodum drained a three and then gave the Blazers the lead with another successful three pointer on their next possession. The Blazers and Tornadoes traded baskets and leads throughout the remainder of the half, but once again Hodum came up huge for the Blazers as he scored on a layup and then converted a free throw attempt to knot up the score at 39 apiece going into the locker room at halftime.

The teams came in the second half once again trading baskets and leads in the opening minutes; however, after a successful three pointer from freshman guard Matthew McMillan the Blazers gained a 51-47 lead with 14:33 remaining in the game and never gave the lead back. The Blazers pushed their lead to 75-61 with 5:34 left in the game and held off a furious push by the Tornadoes by converting six straight free-throw attempts over the final 1:35 to seal the 83-80 victory.

Freshman guard Luke Couch led the Blazers offense with 15 points to go along with three assists, two rebounds, and one steal. Senior guard Brosnan Cooks had 14 points paired with a team-high seven rebounds, three assists, and one steal, while Hodum finished with 13 points, two rebounds, and two assists, and guard Ryan Dupree had ten points with four rebounds, four assists, three steals, and one block. Senior guard Justin Jones and McMillan finished with nine points each, senior guard Trai James and junior guard Joshua Roberts had five points each, senior guard Queshod Young had two points, and junior forward Brandon Phillips had one point to round out the scoring for the Blazers.

As a team, the Blazers shot 20-for-42 for a percentage of 47.6, including 12-for-23 for a percentage 52.2 from the three point area, and went 31-for-39 for a percentage of 79.5 from the charity stripe. The Blazers scored 16 points in the paint, had 19 points off 18 forced turnovers, had five second chance points, 12 fast-break points, and 35 points from their bench.

The Blazers improve to 6-7 overall and 3-1 in American Southwest play and will return to action on the road as they face off against the University of the Ozarks Eagles on January, 16. The action is set to tip-off at 7 p.m.

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