Men's Basketball Defeats Evansville

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - - Behind 23 points and 10 rebounds from Ben Sheppard, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Evansville, 73-64, Wednesday night from the Ford Center.
 
Ja'Kobi Gillespie added a career-high 18 points and six assists.
 
Playing without Cade Tyson and EJ Bellinger, Belmont fought through a shorter rotation and a fast start from the hosts.
 
Evansville made eight of its first 11 shots – including two 3-pointers from post Yacine Toumi - in building an early nine-point lead.
 
Sheppard propelled Belmont on an 8-0 run as a Keishawn Davidson basket tied the score at 24 with 10:01 left in the first half.
 
After scores from Michael Shanks and Gillespie, Sheppard scored six straight points to give Belmont a 34-28 lead.
 
Belmont led 36-32 at halftime.
 
Belmont shot 52 percent (15-for-29) from the field in the opening 20 minutes – including 4-for-11 from 3-point distance.
 
The Bruins limited Evansville to 4-for-20 shooting to close the first half.
 
A Drew Friberg 3-pointer and an Even Brauns dunk off a Davidson assist increased the margin to nine, 43-34, with 16:42 left.
 
Isaiah Walker made two 3-pointers in two minutes to make the score 49-40 with 13:29 remaining.
 
After Antoine Smith and Toumi provided the majority of Evansville scoring in the first half, Marvin Coleman became much more assertive in the second half.
 
After a Coleman score, Sheppard answered with five straight points to make the score 54-45 with 12:05 left.
 
As the teams traded baskets, Gillespie made two straight transition 3-pointers in a 25-second span to extend the lead to 13, 64-51, with 7:58 left.
 
Belmont managed foul difficulty in the second half, with a driving Walker basket and two Shanks free throws enabling the Bruins to maintain a double figure lead.
 
All told, Belmont shot 49 percent (28-for-57) from the field – including 10-for-27 from 3-point distance.
 
Walker had eight points, four rebounds and two steals, while Shanks added eight points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
Coleman and Toumi led Evansville (4-18, 0-11 MVC) with 15 points each.
 
Belmont (16-6, 9-2 MVC) returns to game action Sunday vs. Drake.
 
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. from the Curb Event Center. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 - the first ESPN2 game at the Curb Event Center since the Bruins' ESPN BracketBusters victory over Ohio in 2013.
 
Tickets are on sale now at BelmontBruins.com/Tickets.

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