Jackson, Miss. - Belhaven Men's Basketball never trailed Tuesday night inside Rugg Arena, using balanced scoring, defensive pressure, and key second-half runs to defeat Huntingdon 98-85 in CCS play.

The Blazers shot 50 percent from the field in both halves, forced 17 turnovers, and piled up 28 points off those miscues to improve to 12-12 overall and 6-5 in conference action.  

Belhaven set the tone immediately. CJ Minton opened the scoring with a jumper, Charleston Wallace followed with a layup off a DJ Jones assist, and Dyllion Redmond added a tip-in and free throw to give the Blazers a quick 7-0 start.

Huntingdon responded briefly behind interior finishes from Marcus Townsend and free throws from Myles Murphy, but Belhaven answered with a decisive run. A three from Dan Robinson, followed by a DJ Jones triple and a fast-break dunk from Kam Beverly, pushed the lead to double digits.

When Owen LaRocca hit back-to-back threes to trim the margin to two, Robinson responded with a deep three of his own, and Minton followed with another from the wing to steady the momentum. The Blazers then closed the half on a 16-4 stretch highlighted by Braylon Dame's three-pointer, a tip-in from Christian McGahan, and Redmond's late jumper to carry a 47-35 lead into the break.

Huntingdon opened the second half aggressively as Tyler Mallory scored in the paint and then connected from three to cut the deficit to five. After Murphy and Andersen Madyun converted inside to keep the pressure on, Belhaven responded with its most important run of the night.

Dame drilled a three, Neal Terry scored twice in the paint, and Minton added a fast-break jumper to cap a 14-4 surge that stretched the lead back to double figures at 61-49. Moments later, Dame buried another three and Robinson followed with a transition finish to push the margin to 79-54.

Mallory continued to score, including a three and several paint finishes to trim the lead to single digits late, and LaRocca added a deep three in the final two minutes to cut it to seven. But Belhaven answered each push.

Robinson knocked down two key free throws, Minton added four straight at the line, and DJ Jones converted a late layup off a steal to seal the outcome. Redmond capped the night with a fast-break dunk in the closing seconds as the Blazers secured the 98-85 victory.

The Blazers return home for their regular season finale on Saturday against Covenant for Senior Night. Tip-off is set for 4:00 PM.

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