NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball closed its regular season home schedule with an 82-63 victory over Eastern Illinois Thursday night.
Belmont seniors J.J. Mann (Smyrna, Ga.) Blake Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) and Drew Windler (South Milwaukee, Wis.) were honored before the game. A lively home crowd cheered them on to memorable Senior Night performances.
Two early Windler three-pointers pushed Belmont out to an 11-6 lead three minutes in. Consecutive three-pointers from junior Reece Chamberlain (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) and sophomore Craig Bradshaw (Ridgetop, Tenn.) stretched the margin to 17-9.
But 11 early points from Reggie Smith kept the Panthers within arms reach in the uptempo, free-flowing affair.
Six straight Jenkins points gave Belmont a 23-17 edge with 11:02 left in the half.
Both teams cooled from the early torrid pace, but the Bruins maintained fine outside shooting.
Two more threes from Mann and Bradshaw gave Belmont a 34-27 lead with 3:42 left in the half.
Belmont led 37-31 at halftime.
Belmont shot 52 percent (14-for-27) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 9-for-15 from three-point distance. And while the Bruins handed out 11 assists on 14 made field goals, eight first half turnovers hurt the cause.
A Jenkins layin and a conventional three-point play from Mann pushed the lead to 43-32 with 18:27 left.
In fact, the Bruins would make 11 of their first 13 field goal attempts in the second half, as a Windler three-pointer and another Mann conventional three-point play increased the margin to 16, 60-44, with 13:02 remaining.
After Sherman Blanford cut the lead in half with 11:08 to go, Belmont quickly answered with a 15-3 run, capped by another Windler three-pointer.
Darting drives from Bradshaw and Chamberlain and unselfish play characterized the second half, as Belmont held Eastern Illinois to 34 percent shooting after the break.
Mann, Jenkins and Windler each received warm ovations as they exited in the waning moments.
All told, Belmont shot 58 percent (30-for-52) from the field - including 13-for-25 from three-point distance. Belmont recorded 10 steals and 19 assists, while forcing 13 turnovers.
Mann, who was named First Team Academic All-America earlier Thursday, led three Bruins in double figures with 21 points. Bradshaw added 20 points and seven rebounds. Windler had 16 and Jenkins 15. Chamberlain had a career-high 11 assists.
Blanford led Eastern Illinois (9-18, 6-9 OVC) with 15 points.
Belmont (21-8, 12-2 OVC) returns to game action Wednesday, Feb. 26 at SIU Edwardsville. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT.
The game will be broadcast on the OVC Digital Network. The live play-by-play of Voice of the Bruins Kevin Ingram can be heard on the Bruin Sports Network. In-game updates will be available on Twitter @BelmontMBB.
NOTES: Mann and Jenkins recorded their 104th career victory, improving upon their NCAA era standard for graduating seniors...They also improve their career record in conference games to 69-7 and complete their Curb Event Center careers with a 50-2 record...Belmont also becomes the first NCAA Division I program in the nation to win 12 or more regular season conference games for 12 straight seasons. Kansas has a chance to equal that mark later this season...Chamberlain's 11 assists are one shy of the single-game Curb Event Center record held by Alex Renfroe.
