JACKSON, Miss. -- Tip-off to the 2018-19 basketball season was on Tuesday night, and the Millsaps College Majors opened up their year with a 77-66 win over cross-town rival Belhaven University.

The Majors led 47-33 at halftime, and went 6-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to close out the win.

How It Happened 
Millsaps kept Belhaven off of the scoreboard through the first media of the timeout. A jumper from James Turner and three by She'Chem Grant had the Majors out to a 5-0 lead at the first break. Drew Burnett added a layup to make it 7-0 before the Blazers finally got on the scoreboard with a layup at the 14:12 mark of the first half.

The teams traded buckets throughout the early portion of the half, but each time that Belhaven looked to make a run the Majors were there to answer. At the midway point in the first half Millsaps continued to hold a lead at 17-13. 

From that point Millsaps went on a huge 17-6 run that was sparked in part by Cameron Carvelli's play off of the bench. He scored 5 points in less than two minutes while commanding the offense from the point guard position. 

Late in the half, a pair of free throws by Saxton Becker gave the Majors their largest a lead of the game at 44-26. Belhaven was able to get a couple free throws and a late three-pointer to close out the half, but at the end of twenty minutes the Majors still led 47-33. 

In the second half, the Blazers turned up their intensity right out of the locker room and in less than four minutes had the Majors' lead down to just three points. After a timeout Millsaps settled in to play and was able to answer each Belhaven run with one of their own. Defense was a huge part of the success all night long, but especially in the second half as the Blazers were held to just 1-13 shooting from behind the three-point arc. 

After the early timeout, Belhaven only got to within one possession one other time. Any thought of a late comeback was put to rest as a combination of Turner, Grant and Ryan McLaurin were perfect from the free-throw line in the final minute to clinch the 77-66 win. 

In a game that saw a combined 68 fouls called, free throws were huge as the Majors finished 26-34 from the charity stripe. 

Grant finished as the game's leading scorer with 18 points to go along with 6 rebounds. McLaurin added 17 points of his own off the bench, including a huge three-pointer to put the Majors up 71-62 with just 1:24 left to play in the game. He also had 3 steals on the defensive end of the floor. 

Kalvin Spikes and Becker also finished in double-digits for the Majors with 11 and 10 points respectively. 

What's Next?
The Majors travel to Conway, Arkansas this weekend to take part in the SAA/SCAC Challenge hosted by Hendrix College. Millsaps will play Austin College on Saturday and Centenary College on Sunday.