VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - The Belhaven Men's Basketball improved on their strong start to the season on Friday as they took down Averett University, 64-62, on the opening night of the North Beach Plastic Surgery Christmas Classic hosted by Virginia Wesleyan.

As has been the theme in the Blazers' recent contests, the match up against Averett was a tight affair with Belhaven taking an early lead before being hit back by the Cougars. Averett lead at the halftime interval 31-28 with Neal Terry's late basket cutting the Cougars' lead to a possession at the half. 

Belhaven started the second half strong with an 11-4 run out of the gates to take a 39-35 lead with fewer than three minutes played in the second period. However, despite Belhaven extending their lead out to a seven-point advantage, Averett retook the lead with 7:40 to play.

Averett kept the Blazers at bay for over five minutes but Belhaven would regain the lead with 1:46 to play and hold on in the final moments to improve to 7-2 on the season. 

Belhaven was led on the night by Damien Wheaton who finished with a season-high 16 points on 5-6 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-6 day at the free throw line. Wheaton also tallied four rebounds, two blocks and two steals. Jacob Reese recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. 

With the two-point win, each of the Blazers last five games (3-2 record) have ended within six points and two of those contests have gone to overtime (both against Birmingham-Southern).

The Blazers will look to make it a 2-0 trip to Virginia as they take on hosts Virginia-Wesleyan (11-1) tomorrow at 2:00 PM. 

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