Box Score NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Behind career scoring days from junior Drew Hanlen (St. Louis, Mo.) and sophomore Kerron Johnson (Huntsville, Ala.), Belmont men's basketball defeated Miami (OH) Thursday afternoon, 83-72.
Belmont head coach Rick Byrd elected to start sophomore Trevor Noack (Keller, Texas) at the power forward position, and received instant return, as Noack opened the game with a three-pointer.
Back-to-back three-pointers from Nick Winbush lifted Miami to an 18-14 lead nine minutes in, before junior Scott Saunders (New Orleans, La.) and Johnson answered with layins.
Five Noack points and a tip-in from junior Mick Hedgepeth (Crossville, Ala.) highlighted a 10-0 Bruin run that gave Belmont a 28-19 edge with 7:29 left in the half.
The Bruins did a remarkable job defending Redhawk scorers in the halfcourt, as Miami tallied only seven made field goals in the opening 20 minutes. But 11-for-12 shooting from the free throw line in the first half kept Miami within shouting distance.
A gorgeous backdoor layin from senior Jordan Campbell (Indianapolis, Ind.) off a feed from Hedgepeth helped give the Bruins a 44-29 halftime lead.
Belmont forced 10 first half turnovers and grabbed 12 first half offensive rebounds, allowing the hosts to take 15 more field goal attempts.
Miami would score the first seven points of the second half, before Johnson used more aggressive drives to the basket to help the Bruins restablish a double figure lead.
A baseline three-pointer from Campbell increased the lead to 11, 56-45, with 11:10 remaining, and the Bruins appeared poised to break the game open.
But several high percentage looks within the semblance of the Belmont offense rimmed out, and offered the Redhawks a glimmer of hope.
After two Hanlen free throws staked the Bruins to a 65-52 lead with 6:26 left, Winbush capped a 13-4 Miami run to narrow the margin to 69-65 with 3:25 remaining.
Yet moments later, sophomore Ian Clark rose to the occasion and answered with a straight-on trey of his own to push the Bruin lead back to seven.
Clark and Hanlen went a combined 7-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 1:21 to secure the victory.
All told, Belmont shot 48 percent (28-for-59) from the field and outrebounded Miami 39-30.
Hanlen scored a career-high 17 points, while Johnson had a career-high 15 points on 6-for-7 shooting. Hedgepeth added 12 points and six rebounds and Noack scored a career-high 11 points in his first start of the season.
Winbush led Miami (5-8) with 19 points.
Belmont (10-3, 2-0 Atlantic Sun) returns to action Monday, Jan. 3 at Florida Gulf Coast. Tip-off is set for 6:30pm CT, with the live play-by-play available on the Bruin Sports Network.
Live video streaming will be provided via ASun.TV.
