Men's Basketball Defeats Tennessee State

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - - Behind 17 points and seven rebounds from Drew Scharnowski, Belmont University men's basketball defeated Tennessee State, 87-79, Saturday night from the Curb Event Center.
 
Scharnowski went 6-for-7 from the field as Belmont limited Tennessee State to 35 percent shooting.
 
Belmont demonstrated strong halfcourt defense throughout, as the Tigers went 4-for-22 from the field in the first 12 minutes.
 
A Nic McClain layin gave Belmont a 21-9 lead midway through the first half.
 
A wing 3-pointer from Eoin Dillon and a strong conventional 3-point play from Brigham Rogers made the score 28-19.
 
From there, Tennessee State rode the play of Dante Harris and some open court opportunities to close within 34-32 at halftime.
 
Belmont shot 45 percent in the opening 20 minutes and forced nine Tennessee State turnovers.
 
Nine Bruins scored in the first half.
 
Schnarowski sparked an 11-0 run in the second half with an acrobatic slam plus the foul.
 
Tyler Lundblade made a third consecutive 3-pointer to help increase the lead to 10, 50-40, with 14:32 left.
 
While Belmont continued to find success in the paint, Tennessee State hung around behind opportunistic second chance points and long rebound runouts.
 
Five points from Sam Orme and a second alley oop slam from Scharnowski made the score 66-57 with 7:05 left.
 
The two teams combined to take 39 free throw attempts in the second half, as Tennessee State stayed within reach from the free throw line.
 
After an Antoine Lorick basket got Tennessee State within six points, one Orme free throw and a coast-to-coast steal and slam from Bez Jenkins pushed the Belmont lead back to nine, 71-62, with 5:16 left.
 
A wing 3-pointer from Lundblade and a timely driving score from McClain gave Belmont a 77-70 lead with 2:23 remaining before 3-pointers from Travis Harper and Khalil London got Tennessee State within 79-76 with 1:36 left.
 
From there, Scharnowski first found Orme along the baseline for a slam then grabbed a timely defensive rebound in traffic.
 
Belmont went 6-for-8 from the free throw line in the final 57 seconds to secure the outcome.
 
All told, Belmont shot 62 percent from the field in the second half and outscored Tennessee State, 50-34, in the paint.
 
Belmont handed out 18 assists.
 
Scharnowski led five Belmont players in double figures with 17 points and seven rebounds. Orme had 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, and two blocked shots.
 
Lundblade scored 14 points – all in the second half.
 
Rogers had 12 points and four rebounds. Jenkins provided 11 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocked shots.

McClain had seven points, six rebounds, eight assists, and three steals.
 
Harris led Tennessee State (1-1) with 21 points.
 
Belmont has won 10 consecutive games in the series with Tennessee State, and 25 of the last 28 meetings.
 
Belmont (2-0) returns to game action Saturday, Nov. 15 at Oral Roberts.
 
Belmont season tickets – which include the entire men's and women's basketball home schedule – are on sale now at belmontbruins.com/tickets. 
 
To become a Bruin Club member, contact Russell Grimm at (615) 460-5668 or russell.grimm@belmont.edu.
 
Belmont University men's basketball has been a postseason fixture for 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 (behind Gonzaga and Kansas). Belmont has won 20 or more games in 15 consecutive seasons (alongside Gonzaga, Kansas, and Oregon) and 19 or more games in 20 consecutive seasons (alongside Gonzaga, Kansas, and San Diego State). Belmont is among select programs with two or more first-round selections in the NBA Draft over the last six years (Ben Sheppard, Dylan Windler). Belmont University men's basketball boasts an NCAA-leading 19 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 its existence. Belmont is the only NCAA Division I institution in America whose men's and women's basketball programs have won 20 or more games in 10 consecutive seasons.
 
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