Men's Basketball Falls to Monmouth in Cathedral Classic

PHILADELPHIA - - Belmont University men's basketball dropped a 93-84 decision to Monmouth Friday in the opening day of the Cathedral of College Basketball Classic.
 
Cade Tyson got Belmont off to a good start with two early 3-point field goals.
 
But Monmouth made use of paint scores, two four-point plays and timely bench contributions to build a 51-37 halftime lead.
 
Belmont head coach Casey Alexander made use of multiple player rotations in the second half and the Bruins responded.
 
Five points from Ja'Kobi Gillespie and a Jayce Willingham 3-pointer got Belmont within 53-45 with 18:08 left.
 
A second chance basket from Jaret Valencia prompted a Monmouth response.
 
Tyson, Gillespie and Willingham carried the Belmont scoring torch as consecutive Tyson slams made the score 73-67 with 6:04 left.
 
Moments later, Monmouth guard Jakari Spence made a 3-pointer at the end of the shot clock – his first of the season – to push the margin back to nine.
 
Belmont continued to fight, but Xander Rice made six free throws in the final 58 seconds to provide the final score.
 
Tyson led three Bruins in double figures with 22 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals.
 
Willingham scored a season-high 21 points while Gillespie had 20 points, four rebounds and six assists.
 
Nikita Konstantynovskyi led Monmouth (3-2) with 22 points.
 
Belmont (2-3) returns to game action Saturday at Penn. Tip-off is set for 4:30 p.m. ET/3:30 p.m. CT.

The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ 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.

Belmont University men's basketball has been a postseason fixture the last two decades, 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 13 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, Oregon) and 19 or game games in 18 consecutive seasons (Gonzaga, Kansas, San Diego State). Belmont is among select programs with two or more first-round selections in the NBA Draft over the last five years (Ben Sheppard, Dylan Windler). 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