BROWNWOOD, Texas - The Belhaven University men's basketball team struggled on Saturday afternoon in a 99-67 ASC road loss at Howard Payne University. Belhaven falls to 6-9 overall and 4-8 in conference play. 

Howard Payne came out firing on all cylinders as they went on a 20-6 run to open the contest and maintained the lead for the rest of the first half. The Yellow Jackets shot well from the floor in the first 20 minutes as they took the 53-34 advantage into the halftime break.

In the opening six minutes of the second half, HPU outscored the Blazers 14-5 to take a 67-39 advantage. The Jackets shot well for the remainder of the contest and extended their lead to 32 points by the time the final buzzer sounded. The Yellow Jackets held strong at home to defeat the Green and Gold by a final score of 99-67 in conference play.

Luke Couch led the Blazers with 25 points, three rebounds, and went 12-for-12 from the free throw line. Arother Ratliff finished the game with 21 points, six rebounds, one assist, and shot 66.6 percent from behind the arc. As a team, the Blazers scored 28 points in the paint and collected 14 points off of turnovers.

The Blazers will return to the hardwood on Tuesday, February 8 against the East Texas Baptist University Tigers in Rugg Arena. Tip-off is scheduled 7:30 p.m.

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