PHILADELPHIA - - Behind 19 points from
Cade Tyson, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Lafayette, 79-69, Sunday afternoon from The Palestra.
Tyson went 7-for-14 from the field and added three assists and three steals as Belmont led from start to finish.
Three points each from
Ja'Kobi Gillespie and
Jayce Willingham got Belmont going as the Bruins held Lafayette scoreless the opening three and a half minutes.
After a brief scoring run from Lafayette guard Devin Hines, Belmont got production from
Malik Dia and Tyson to extend the lead to 19-14 midway through the first half.
Belmont relied on strong defense, rebounding and free throw shooting to build control.
A Gillespie putback basket and scores from
Brigham Rogers helped Belmont close the half on a 7-0 run.
Belmont led 38-28 at halftime.
Belmont shot 36 percent (12-for-33) from the field in the opening 20 minutes – including 4-for-11 from 3-point distance.
The Bruins outrebounded Lafayette by eight and forced eight first-half turnovers.
A Willingham basket and one Rogers free throw increased the Belmont lead to 13, 41-28, with 19:03 remaining.
Lafayette – which led UCLA by nine points in the second half and nearly defeated Penn Friday - continued to hang around with switching defenses and opportunistic scores.
Nine straight Dia points made the score 50-40 with 14:45 left.
The Bruins worked Lafayette into significant foul trouble, which proved beneficial in the final 10 minutes of the game.
As Belmont endured a four-minute scoring drought with some uncharacteristic turnovers, Luka Savicevic came up with a loose ball and scored to make the score 50-47.
Belmont answered back with a timely 8-0 run of its own, as 3-pointers from Gillespie and Rogers sandwiched around two Tyson free throws pushed the margin back to 11.
Lafayette got within 64-57 before Dia passed out of a triple team to Tyson for another big 3-pointer to reestablish the 10-point lead.
Another Gillespie 3-pointer made the score 70-59 with 2:59 left.
Belmont would go 7-for-8 from the free throw line to secure the game.
All told, Belmont shot 52 percent from the field in the second half.
The Bruins outrebounded Lafayette, 39-29, and went a season-best 20-for-24 from the free throw line.
Tyson led four Bruins in double figures with 19 points.
Dia had 18 points, while Gillespie scored 15.
Willingham recorded his first double-double at Belmont with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Hines led Lafayette (1-6) with 17 points.
Tyson was named to the Cathedral Classic All-Tournament Team.
Belmont (4-3) returns to game action Wednesday at Northern Iowa.
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
