JACKSON, Miss. - The Belhaven Men's Basketball team avenged last month's loss against Birmingham-Southern on Tuesday afternoon inside Rugg Arena, taking down the Panthers 78-72 in overtime. Belhaven improved to 6-2 on the 2023 campaign.
The visitors jumped out to a hot start, taking an early 9-2 lead into the opening media timeout. The Blazers responded with seven straight to even things up at 11, and
Jordan Marshall's three with 10:18 in the half gave Belhaven a 14-13 lead.
A late run by the Panthers gave them a 25-22 advantage heading into the locker room. BSC carried that momentum into the early portion of the second half as the Panthers extended their lead to nine at 37-28 at the 14:34 mark. Back-to-back baskets by Marshall and
Jacob Reese got the Blazers within three, but Birmingham-Southern was able to stretch the lead to as much as seven.
Down five with just over two to play, Reese followed a
Jermario Hersey three to tie things up at 57. Belhaven regained the lead after Marshall knocked down a three to go up one with a minute to play. However, Birmingham-Southern answered with a game-tying three in the final seconds to send the game to overtime at 64 apiece.
Both teams traded baskets early in the extra period as BSC scored a bucket to even it up at 72 with 1:38 left. Over the final minute and a half, Belhaven scored the game's next six points to earn a hard-fought 78-72 victory over the Panthers.
Jacob Reese was dominant in 30 minutes off the bench, scoring a game-high 26 points on 10-of-13 shooting and 15 rebounds.
Jordan Marshall finished with 20 points, while
Jermario Hersey added 15.
The Blazers will travel to Virginia Beach, Va. this weekend for a two-day event hosted by Virginia Wesleyan. Belhaven opens up play on Saturday with 6:00 PM tipoff against Averett.
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