Box Score CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - - Behind 18 points from Ben Sheppard, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Austin Peay, 75-67, Thursday night.
Sheppard went 7-of-11 from the field and added five rebounds and two steals.
Belmont leads the nation in conference road victories over the last five seasons.
Trailing 14-9, Belmont proceeded to hold Austin Peay without a field goal for nearly 11 minutes in the first half.
A Grayson Murphy no-look assist to Even Brauns and a Sheppard 3-pointer gave Belmont a 30-16 lead with 5:29 left in the first half.
The lead grew to 37-22 on a Nick Muszynski basket.
Belmont led 37-28 at halftime.
Belmont shot 54 percent (14-of-26) from the field in the opening 20 minutes while forcing eight turnovers.
Muszynski scored 14 first-half points.
After scoring the final six points of the first half, Austin Peay had an 8-0 run to open the second half, closing within 37-36 on an Elijah Hutchins-Everett basket.
Belmont responded with a 12-2 run, highlighted by consecutive 3-pointers from Will Richard to push the margin back to 11, 49-38.
Austin Peay, which made a total of 22 3-pointers in its first five OVC games, rode the shooting of Drew Calderon and Carlos Paez to stay in the game.
A Brauns conventional 3-point play gave Belmont a 60-53 lead with 7:13 left.
In a physical game, both teams fought for every loose ball and for every inch in the paint.
Another Sheppard 3-pointer, an offensive rebound score from Richard and a Luke Smith layin made the score 70-61 with 3:50 to go.
Austin Peay got as close as 71-67 before Smith made four free throws in the final 20 seconds to secure the victory.
All told. Belmont shot 51 percent (24-of-47) from the field and collected 10 steals.
Richard had 16 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Smith and Muszynski each had 15.
Calderon led Austin Peay (5-11, 1-5 OVC) with 20 points.
Belmont (16-5, 6-2 OVC) returns to game action Saturday vs. UT Martin.
Belmont University men's basketball has earned postseason invitations 14 of the last 16 seasons, including nine berths to the NCAA Tournament. The Bruins have won 20 conference championships since 2006 - third-most nationally over that span (Gonzaga, Kansas). Belmont is one of only six NCAA Division I programs outside the Power 5 to post Top 100 rankings 11 consecutive seasons (BYU, Gonzaga, Saint Mary's (CA), San Diego State, Wichita State). Belmont is one of only four NCAA Division I programs to win 19 or more games 16 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, San Diego State). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 18 CoSIDA Academic All-America selections since 2001 and is the only NCAA Division I program to make the NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) Honor Roll every year of existence
