Both of the Mississippi men’s basketball teams competing in the NCAA Division III Tournament, Belhaven and the Mississippi University for Women, fell in the opening round on Friday.
Belhaven’s efforts in playing spoiler to No. 3 ranked St. Thomas (TX) fell short in overtime as the Blazers lost 69-63. St. Thomas is widely considered a contender for this year’s national championship.
The Blazers (16-13) erased several second-half deficits before a Dan Robinson jumper tied the game at 58-58 in the final 30 seconds. Robinson then hit an acrobatic three-pointer – one that would have won the game – but officials said the ball was still in his hands at the buzzer, forcing the game to overtime.
St. Thomas (27-1) outscored Belhaven 11-5 in the extra period to secure the win inside their home arena in Houston.
St. Thomas was led by Reyce Allen’s 16 points as Corey Thompson and Nicholas Buffalo each scored 15. Belhaven’s Robinson had a game-high 20 points as CJ Minton – the MVP of the Collegiate Conference of the South Tournament – had 14 points and five rebounds.
In Atlanta, the Mississippi University for Women (17-11) fell short to host Emory. Emory jumped out to an early lead and took a 50-37 advantage into halftime, and while the second half was much closer, the Eagles (23-3) won 87-73.
“We went toe-to-toe with a team that is a [top seed] in this tournament and has been ranked No. 1 nationally at times this season,” MUW head coach Dean Burrows said after the game. “We settled in somewhat faster than expected, but self-inflicted mistakes, as they did during the (regular) season, came back to bite us.”
Emory’s Ben Pearce had 23 points, and Jair Knight added 16. Mario Awasum had 16 rebounds. For the Owls, Southwest Mississippi Community College product Joe Haze Austin had a career stat line of 32 points, eight rebounds, and six steals. Tray Huguley added a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds.
It was the first NCAA Tournament appearance for both Belhaven and MUW.
