The Belmont men's basketball team scored the final 10 points on Wednesday night (Jan. 29) at MSU’s Johnson Arena en route to a 76-73 Ohio Valley Conference victory over Morehead State. The Bruins, who have won nine of their last 10 contests, improve to 17-7 overall, 8-1 in league action and 7-6 on the road. The Eagles slip to 14-9 overall, 5-3 in conference play and 7-3 at home.
Belmont moves to 4-0 in the all-time series against Morehead State. The Bruins have enjoyed postseason play eight of the last 10 seasons, including six NCAA Tournament appearances.
MSU led for more than 39 minutes in the nationally-televised game on CBS Sports Network. BU knotted the contest at 73 on a bucket by junior Reece Chamberlain with 26 seconds left. Senior J.J. Mann then collected the game's final three points to give the Bruins the win.
"Give Belmont a lot of credit," Head Coach Sean Woods said. "One reason why they are so good is they always bring it for 40 minutes. We played fairly well for 39 minutes tonight, but that obviously wasn't enough. This one hurts and our young men need to learn from it."
Morehead State committed five turnovers in the final 1:19 and missed three of its final four attempts from the free-throw line. The Eagles were tagged with 17 miscues on the night, which Belmont turned into 27 points. BU also posted a 10-2 advantage in fast-break points.
"Missed free throws and turnovers, especially late in the game, were the story tonight," Woods said. "You can't beat one of the best teams in the Ohio Valley Conference with the way we finished this one. We need to do a much better job of closing out games down the stretch."
Mann posted a team-high 22 points for Belmont on 8-of-17 from the field. Chamberlain added 14 points, while sophomore Craig Bradshaw recorded 12 and freshman Evan Bradds chipped in with 10. Bradds also grabbed six rebounds, while Chamberlain dished out four assists.
Senior Drew Kelly led Morehead State with a game-best 23 points on 8-of-13 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range. His second-best scoring effort of the year was accompanied by five rebounds and a pair of assists. He also tied a career high with three blocked shots.
Junior Billy Reader added 14 points for the Eagles, on 6-of-8 from the field, and yanked down a game-high eight rebounds. Sophomore Brent Arrington chipped in with 11 points, tied a career high with seven rebounds and was credited with five assists before fouling out late.
Belmont knocked down 60 percent (15-of-25) from the floor in the second period on its way to 46 percent (23-of-50) for the contest. Morehead State drilled 47 percent (25-of-53) overall, including 43 percent (9-of-21) from beyond the arc.
The tilt was tied just three times and its only lead change came in the final minute.
Belmont committed just seven turnovers in the game, including only two after intermission. Morehead State, which began the day 19th in the nation with 8.6 steals per outing, managed just three.
"That's Belmont's game right there," Woods added. "We didn't speed them up like we had hoped, and we didn't force them into enough mistakes. To their credit, they took care of the basketball and limited us to nine points off turnovers."
The Eagles posted advantages of 39-26 in total rebounds, 14-6 in offensive boards and 17-6 in second-chance points. MSU, which paces the OVC in total boards and rebounding margin, has only been outrebounded once this season.
Morehead State wraps up its two-game homestand on Saturday (Feb. 1) against conference opponent Jacksonville State. The game will be part of a doubleheader, with the men playing at 2 p.m. and the women following at approximately 4:15.
