Friberg's Career Day Leads Men's Basketball Past Georgia State

Box Score ATLANTA - - Behind a career-high 24 points from Drew Friberg, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Georgia State, 68-66, Sunday from GSU Convocation Center.
 
Friberg went 8-for-12 from the field and made a number of huge shots in the second half as Belmont led all but 40 seconds of the game.
 
Belmont roared out of the gates as Atlanta native Ben Sheppard and Cade Tyson made consecutive 3-pointers to open the scoring.
 
The Bruins held Georgia State scoreless the first 4:07 as a defensive-minded tractor pull materialized.
 
An Even Brauns slam midway through the first half was Belmont's first two-point field goal after strong 3-point shooting as the Bruins led by five.
 
Georgia State took its first - and only – lead of the game with 3:47 left in the first half on a Ja'Heim Hudson basket.
 
An assist and a conventional 3-point play from Ja'Kobi Gillespie pushed Belmont back in front.
 
Belmont led 31-29 at halftime.
 
Belmont shot 41 percent (11-for-27) from the field in the opening 20 minutes – including 7-for-13 from 3-point distance. Belmont outrebounded Georgia State, 17-15, in the first half.
 
The Bruins started the second half strong, as consecutive scores from Brauns, Sheppard, Tyson and Friberg highlighted a 10-1 run and gave Belmont a 43-34 lead with 14:39 left.
 
Seemingly each time Belmont appeared poised to build a working margin, a series of unfortunate events would stifle momentum.
 
Loose ball rebounds, free throws and uncharacteristic Bruin turnovers enabled the hosts to stay within reach.
 
After a Friberg 3-point play stretched the lead to 10 points, Georgia State rode the play of Dwon Odom to close within 46-43.
 
Six Sheppard points increased the Belmont lead to seven, 52-45, with 10:53 left.
 
A Tyson 3-pointer made the score 57-49 before Odom almost single-handedly led the Panthers back.
 
An Odom basket cut the margin to one, 60-59, with 4:24 left.
 
Out of the under four timeout, Friberg buried two more 3-pointers to increase the Belmont lead to 66-61 with 3:03 left.
 
After two more defensive stops, Sheppard drove the heart of the lane and slammed to make the score 68-61 with 1:25 left.
 
Georgia State would have one final response.
 
A Danny Stubbs 3-pointer got the Panthers within four points with 1:06 to go.
 
Then after Belmont worked possession into the frontcourt, Odom tipped a pass away from Keishawn Davidson.
 
As the two players battled for the loose ball, Davidson was whistled for a foul 40 feet from the basket.
 
Odom proceeded to make two free throws to close the margin to two points with 52 seconds left.
 
Belmont's next possession ended with a misconnected pass and Georgia State had a chance to tie or take the lead with 29 seconds left.
 
As Odom looked to drive, unified team defense converged and forced a turnover –a steal awarded to Tyson.
 
Gillespie would be fouled with seven seconds left.
 
After showcasing strong, clutch free throw shooting in the early season, Gillespie unexpectedly missed the front end of 1-and-1 free throws, giving Georgia State one final try.
 
But Sheppard and Brauns denied Odom at the rim as the horn sounded.
 
All told, Belmont shot 47 percent (24-for-51) from the field – including 54 percent in the second half.
 
Belmont handed out 19 assists on 24 made field goals.
 
Friberg led three Bruins in double figures with 24 points. Sheppard had 15 points, four rebounds and five assists.
 
Tyson had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists.
 
Odom led Georgia State (4-3) with 24 points.
 
Belmont (4-3) returns to game action Thursday vs. Valparaiso.
 
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CT from the Curb Event Center.

The game will be broadcast on ESPNU and the ESPN app. The live play-by-play can be heard on Belmont Bruins Radio on iHeartRadio. In-game updates will be available via Twitter @BelmontMBB.

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Belmont University men's basketball has earned postseason invitations 15 of the last 17 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 has won 20 or more games in 12 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon). Belmont is one of only five NCAA Division I programs outside the Power 5 to post Top 100 rankings 12 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Saint Mary's (CA), San Diego State, Wichita State). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 19 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