NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball returns to game action Friday night in the semifinal round of the 2014 OVC Basketball Championship.
The Bruins claimed their fifth straight regular season conference championship, second straight in the OVC after three in the Atlantic Sun.
Senior J.J. Mann (Smyrna, Ga.) was named OVC Player of the Year and First Team All-OVC, sophomore Craig Bradshaw (Ridgetop, Tenn.) was named Second Team All-OVC and Rick Byrd was named OVC Coach of the Year Tuesday.
Belmont seniors J.J. Mann and Blake Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) are the winningest graduating class of Belmont's NCAA era (1996-present). The duo has a career record of 106-28, including 71-7 in conference games (41-3 Atlantic Sun, 30-4 OVC).
While its current home - the Curb Event Center was under construction - Belmont played home games at Nashville Municipal Auditorium from 2001-03.
Ian Clark ('13) hit six second half three-pointers en route to a game-high 26 points as Belmont defeated Tennessee State, 82-73, in last year's OVC semifinal. Mann and Jenkins also had double figures.
Belmont has won eight straight conference tournament games, and is 18-2 in conference tournament games since 2006.
Tip-off will be 6:30 p.m. CT from Nashville Municipal Auditorium. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and the WatchESPN app.
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.
Game Notes - OVC Semifinal
