NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Belmont University men's basketball returns to game action Saturday night against Eastern Kentucky in the 2014 OVC Basketball Championship.
The Bruins defeated Morehead State, 86-63, Friday night in the semifinal round. The Bruins claimed their fifth straight regular season conference championship, second straight in the OVC after three in the Atlantic Sun.
Belmont seniors J.J. Mann and Blake Jenkins are the winningest graduating class of Belmont's NCAA era (1996-present). The duo has a career record of 107-28, including 72-7 in conference games (41-3 Atlantic Sun, 31-4 OVC).
Belmont and Eastern Kentucky each made the 2007 NCAA Tournament, playing respective first round games at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Winston-Salem, N.C. Belmont faced East No. 2 seed Georgetown, while Eastern Kentucky faced East No. 1 seed North Carolina.
Former Belmont forward Keaton Belcher ('10) served as a graduate assistant at Eastern Kentucky in 2010-11.
This marks Belmont's seventh conference tournament championship game appearance - all since 2006. The Bruins won the previous six tournament finals, five in the Atlantic Sun Conference ('06, '07, '08, '11, '12) and last season in their inaugural season in the OVC ('13).
Belmont defeated Murray State, 70-68, in overtime in the 2013 OVC Championship game. Kerron Johnson ('13) hit the game-tying and game-winning shots en route to OVC Tournament MVP honors. Johnson earned back-to-back tournament MVP honors, as he was also named 2012 Atlantic Sun Tournament MVP.
Tip-off will be 6:00 p.m. CT from Nashville Municipal Auditorium. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 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. The game will also be broadcast nationally on Westwood One (Sirius Ch. 93 & XM Ch. 194). In-game updates will be available on Twitter @BelmontMBB.
Game Notes - Eastern Kentucky vs. Belmont
