JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven Men's Basketball team pulled off an impressive early season statement victory over Berry College on Saturday, taking down the Vikings 94-87 behind a second half comeback.
Berry, who was receiving multiple votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, took the early lead in the contest as the game hit the first media timeout, just past the 16:00 minute mark of the first half. From that point, Berry remained in control, albeit with a slim margin, leading for the remainder of the half.
The Vikings took a 43-37 lead into the break but it seemed like Belhaven was poised for a quick start to the second half, hitting the first basket our of halftime. However Berry would go on a 10-4 run to start the second half and open up a 12-point lead, their largest of the day.
Belhaven showed resiliency and quickly trimmed that deficit and a layup by
Neal Terry at the 8:45 mark of the second half gave Belhaven their first lead in over 27 minutes of game time. From that point, Belhaven would push on for the win, not trailing for the remainder of the contest and pulling out a double-digit advantage late to keep the Vikings at bay.
Jordan Marshall led the Blazers offensively on Saturday scoring a team-high 25 points.
Jacob Reese posted a career-high 15 points en route to his first double-double with the Blazers as he also pulled down 10 rebounds in the win. In all, Belhaven finished with five scorers in double figures as
Judah Jordan picked up 12 points and
Jonathan Lucas and
Luke Couch tacked on 11 each.
Belhaven's comeback was aided by tenacity and depth as they outscored Berry 17-6 in second chance points while also outpacing the Vikings 31-10 in bench scoring. The Blazers also hit big free throws late to help seal the notable victory. The win marks the first time since the 2010-11 campaign that Belhaven has started a season 2-0.
The Blazers now turn their attention to rival Millsaps as they take on the Majors in a road bout on Wednesday, November 15th. Tipoff against the Majors is set for 7:30 PM.
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