JACKSONVILLE, Ala. - - Belmont University men's basketball defeated Jacksonville State, 76-53, Saturday afternoon to claim a fifth consecutive regular season conference championship.
The Bruins stormed out to an 8-0 lead behind the play of junior Reece Chamberlain (Goodlettsville, Tenn.) and led from start to finish.
With several main rotation players in first half foul trouble, Belmont got significant bench contributions from junior Chad Lang (Marietta, Ga.), junior Spencer Turner (Bloomington, Ind.) and sophomore Jeff Laidig (Mishawaka, Ind.).
Belmont led 43-27 at halftime.
Sophomore Craig Bradshaw (Ridgetop, Tenn.) scored 10 points early in the second half, while senior J.J. Mann (Smyrna, Ga.) continued his season-long trend of making clutch plays and timely end-of-shot clock baskets.
The Bruins led by as many as 27.
Mann led four Bruins in double figures with 19 points. Chamberlain had 16, Bradshaw 15, and Lang a career-high 11.
Brian Williams led Jacksonville State (10-21, 4-12 OVC) with 15 points.
Belmont (23-8, 14-2) joins an exclusive fraternity of programs to win five straight regular season conference championships. Since the Bruins became an NCAA Division I member institution in 1996-97, only Belmont, Butler, Cincinnati, Duke, Gonzaga, Kansas, Nevada and Xavier have won five straight conference regular season championships.
NCAA Division I Programs to Win Five Consecutive Regular Season Conference Championships
Since 1996-97
- Belmont (Atlantic Sun/OVC) 2010-14
- Butler (Horizon) 2007-11
- Cincinnati (CUSA) 1997-2002
- Duke (ACC) 1997-2001
- Gonzaga (WCC) 2001-11
- Kansas (Big XII) 2005-14
- Nevada (WAC) 2004-08
- Xavier (Atlantic 10) 2007-11
The Bruins earn the No. 1 seed in the upcoming OVC Tournament and - with a regular season championship - receive an invitation to the Postseason NIT.
Belmont will return to game action Friday, Mar. 7 in the OVC semifinals. The Bruins will face either No. 4 Morehead State, No. 5 Tennessee Tech or No. 8 SIUE.
Tip-off will be 6:30 p.m. CT from Nashville Municipal Auditorium. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The live play-by-play of Voice of the Bruins Kevin Ingram can be heard on the Bruin Sports Network and 104.5 The Zone. In-game updates will be available on Twitter @BelmontMBB.
