Box Score JACKSON, Miss. — Krayleon Winston scored 15 of his
23 points in the first half Thursday to lead third-seeded Belhaven in a 71-56
men's basketball victory over sixth-seeded Xavier University of Louisiana in the
quarterfinals of the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Tournament.
Winston did not miss a shot in first half, including
three 3-pointers, in leading the Blazers (23-8) to a 36-27 advantage at the break.
Devin Andrew scored 17 points,
Ryan DeRousselle 11 and
Michael Harvey 10 for the Gold Rush (18-13), which never got closer than six points
in the second half and trailed by double digits the final 10:49.
Nathaniel Roché scored 12 points and Rob Wallace 11 for
Belhaven, which outrebounded the Gold Rush 44-26.
Andrew's 3-pointer at 10:23 of the first half gave Xavier
its last lead, 14-12. Belhaven outscored Xavier 14-4 over 4½ minutes to turn its
22-21 lead into a 36-25 advantage at 1:10 of the first half.
The Gold Rush, which shot 52.9 percent from the floor
in its previous five games, shot 39.6 against the Blazers. Belhaven finished
at 41.8 percent after shooting 54.2 in the first half.
Xavier was eliminated in the quarterfinals for the
second consecutive year. The Rush entered the tournament with a four-game winning
streak.
It was the final game at Xavier for seniors DeRousselle,
Landon Bussie and
Dannie Woods.
Belhaven will travel to second-seeded Tougaloo
— a 75-55 quarterfinal winner against Spring Hill — for a 7 p.m.
semifinal game Saturday.