JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven men's basketball squad dropped a close contest to the University of Texas at Dallas Comets by a final score of 85-81 inside Rugg Arena on Thursday evening.

The Blazers and Comets started the game forcing turnovers and playing aggressive defense which led to a slow start offensively for both teams, resulting in a score of just 5-3 Comets at the first media timeout. The offense for both teams would begin to heat up by trading baskets to make the score 14-8 with the Comets having the slight advantage. The Blazers would respond with a 10-2 run to edge closer to the lead, making the score 16-15 UTD with 9:00 to go in the first half. The Blazers would then take the lead with 3:26 left in the half to bring the score to 25-23. However, the Comets would go on a 10-3 run to close the half to make the score 33-28 at halftime.

To start the second half, the Comets would go on an early 10-2 run, so the Blazers took a quick timeout at the 17:10 mark. The Blazers would storm back with their own 10-2 run to cut the lead by a point to make the score 45-44 with 13:54 left in the contest. The Green and Gold would keep the score close, as both teams played great defense. The Comets would respond to the Blazers' efforts, going on a 10-3 run; making the score 55-47. With 3:13 left to play, the Blazers would inch closer to the lead, thanks to Senior guard Brosnan Cooks keeping the Blazers in reach, scoring five straight points to cut the score to 8 points, making the score 75-67. The Blazers would continue to make tough shots down the stretch and would get within four points to tie the game, with the score being 82-78. However, UTD would hold firm to the lead until the end of the contest to make the final score 85-81.

Luke Couch led the Blazers 26 points, along with two assists, two rebounds, and four steals, while Matthew McMillan had a strong performance off the bench, coming second in scoring for the game with 20 points with two assists and four rebounds along with a steal. Brosnan Cooks was one assist shy of a triple-double, scoring 16 points, dishing out 9 assists and hauling in 12 rebounds. Josh Roberts added 6 points, while Justin Jones and Ryan Dupree earned five points. Trai James rounded out the scoring for the Blazers with three points.

As a team, the Blazers were 29-for-69 from the field and shot 44 percent from the behind the arc. The Blazers shot 62 percent from the charity stripe. Belhaven scored 26 points in the paint, had eight second-chance points, scored 15 fast break points, and scored 25 points off the bench. With the loss, the Blazers fell to 9-13 overall and 6-7 in conference play.

With the loss, the Blazers fell to 9-13 overall and 6-7 in conference play. The Blazers will return to action on Saturday, February 15 to take on the University of Ozarks Eagles in a pivotal conference matchup. Tipoff is set for 3:00 p.m.

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