The Belmont men's basketball team used an 11-0 run early in the first half and never trailed again in an 80-66 victory over Morehead State on Thursday evening (Jan. 23) at the Curb Event Center.
The Bruins, who have won seven of their last eight contests, improve to 15-7 overall, 6-1 in league action and 7-1 at home. The Eagles slip to 13-8 overall, 4-2 in conference play and 5-5 on the road. Belmont improves to 3-0 in the all-time series against Morehead State. The teams will play again on Wednesday at Johnson Arena. That contest will be televised nationally by CBS Sports Network.
Belmont has now won 27 of its last 28 and 49 of its last 51 contests at home. The Bruins have been to postseason play eight of the last 10 years, including three straight NCAA Tournament berths.
"I'm disappointed with tonight's outcome, but you have to give Belmont a lot of credit," Head Coach Sean Woods said. "Belmont is a very good basketball team, especially at home."
Sophomore Craig Bradshaw led Belmont with a game-high 24 points -- all of which came in the second half. He drilled 8-of-17 from the field and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. Senior J.J. Mann chipped in with 19 points for the Bruins on 4-of-5 from long range, while junior Reece Chamberlain added 17 points and team highs of six assists and four steals.
MSU sophomore Brent Arrington and junior Angelo Warner combined for 37 points. Arrington posted 19 of his team-best 21 in the first half, while Warner registered 14 of his 16 after intermission. Arrington made 8-of-9 from the field and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe. He also collected team highs of five assists and four steals. Warner drilled 4-of-8 from beyond the arc and had four assists.
Senior Chad Posthumus chipped in with 12 points and eight rebounds for the Eagles. He entered the contest ranked second in the nation with 12.2 rebounds and 4.9 offensive boards per game.
Belmont connected on 50 percent (25-of-50) from the floor, including 55 percent (6-of-11) from three-point land. The Bruins also converted on 80 percent (24-of-30) from the foul line. Morehead State knocked down 46 percent (23-of-50) overall and 41 percent (7-of-17) from three-point range. The Eagles made 68 percent (13-of-19) from the free-throw stripe.
MSU was whistled for 26 infractions, including 16 in the second period, and committed 16 turnovers. BU managed scoring advantages of 34-24 in the paint and 21-11 off turnovers.
"One of the differences was Belmont's ability to get to the free-throw line," Woods said. "That's something we've been pretty good at this season, but they had 11 more attempts tonight and outscored us by 11 from the line. That's hard to overcome against a quality opponent on the road."
Morehead State was credited with 10 blocked shots, which marked its best performance since Dec. 30, 2012. Freshman Greg Dotson tallied five rejections, to go along with eight points. The Eagles scored the game's first five points, but Belmont's spurt made it 11-5 less than four minutes in. The Bruins opened up a game-best, 15-point advantage with 2:59 remaining.
Morehead State wraps up its OVC road trip on Saturday (Jan. 25) at Tennessee State. Tip-off from the Gentry Center is set for approximately 8:30 p.m. The contest will follow a women's tilt at 6:30 p.m.
"The biggest thing is we can't have a hangover from tonight's game," Woods added. "Tennessee State hasn't had a great season (2-20 overall), but anyone can beat anyone in this conference and we will need to be ready."
