Bruins Score Consecutive 100-Point Games
- Sam Dicus
- 6 minutes ago
- 4 min read
Coming off a 103-point explosion against Murray State, Belmont’s men’s basketball team matched that total in its 103-90 win over Drake University
The win over Drake makes it eight straight for the Bruins. That streak includes a 25-point comeback victory over Drake that set a new program record for Belmont.
Belmont’s win over Drake and Murray State marks the first time that the Bruins have scored 100 or more points in consecutive games since 2021.
Belmont coach Casey Alexander wanted to make it clear that the team was not receiving any help from the rims at the Curb Event Center after back-to-back 103-point outings.
“I assure you that those rims are in standard because I get the emails saying that they are,” said Alexander.
The game started at a blistering scoring pace, as both teams combined for 23 points on 82% shooting over the first four minutes.
That set the stage for a first-half shootout where both teams combined for 94 points on 62% shooting, and Belmont took a 51-43 lead.
Redshirt freshman Eoin Dillon hit a three-pointer right before the first-half buzzer to push the Bruins' lead to eight.
Noticeably absent from the scoring for the Bulldogs was senior Jalen Quinn, who had eight points on 3-8 shooting. Quinn, the Missouri Valley Confrence’s leading scorer, was averaging over 28 points per game in his previous six games and was fresh off being named one of five Oscar Robertson Trophy National Players of the Week.
The southpaw was outscored in the first half by Belmont’s own left-handed marksman, freshman Jack Smiley. Smiley had 13 points on 5-7 shooting for the Bruins in the first half.
Belmont began the second half on a 7-2 run, with redshirt sophomores Sam Orme and Drew Scharnowski combining for all seven points.
Drake cut the lead all the way down to six after Quinn split a pair of free throws with a little under 14 minutes remaining, but that would be as close as the Bulldogs would get.
After that free throw, the Bruins went on an 11-1 run that ended with Scharnowski spinning around a defender before putting him on a poster with an emphatic, one-handed slam.
That dunk was Scharnowski’s sixth straight point, and it made the rest of the game a formality. Over the nearly 11 minutes remaining, Belmont’s lead never dipped below nine points.
However, as the Bruins were cruising their way to a double-digit victory, Orme suddenly caught fire.
Orme, who was held out of the previous game for failing concussion protocol and had a banged-up hip, hit three consecutive three-pointers to push Belmont’s lead to 96-77 with 2:45 remaining.
Nine of his game and career-high 22 points came during just 67 seconds of game time, as his teammates mobbed him at midcourt after the third three-pointer fell and both teams took a media timeout.
“Once that first one goes in, and you see the second one be all net, you’re gonna get a third one up,” Orme said. “Everyone was saying, ‘He’s just throwing balls into the ocean at this point.’”
Smiley, who led Belmont with six assists, assisted on all three of Orme’s three-pointers to double his assist total for the game.
The victory marked the Bruins’ fifth double-digit win in conference play, and it maintained their two-game lead atop the MVC standings over Murray State and Bradley.
Belmont shared the wealth in this one, with 12 different Bruins scoring and a stellar 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio.
“I think we’re just extremely dynamic. When we have 25 assists with five turnovers, we’re going to put up like 90-plus a game. I think that’s why we’ve been so good the last two games,” Orme said.
Scharnowski, graduate student Tyler Lundblade and redshirt freshman Jabez Jenkins joined Orme as starters in double figures with 19, 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Smiley also scored in double figures and actually had more points, 18, than minutes played, 17. With Smiley on the floor, Belmont outscored Drake by 17 points.
“Jack had his flurry in the first half, Scharnowski was incredible for his stretch and Orme was incredible for his stretch. Collectively, we were awesome. But it’s amazing at some of these individual performances,” said Alexander.
All that added up to Belmont tying a season-high in points with 103 and posting new season highs with 39 field goals made and 17 three-point field goals made.
Still, the Bruins recognize they are still very much in the grind of the season and are not trying to take anything for granted.
“We have seven games in 19 days, and they’re all pretty meaningful games. We’re in first, but we have some pretty tough road games, and we just have to take it day-by-day,” Orme said.
That road stretch kicks off on Friday, as Belmont travels north to the Windy City to take on the fourth-ranked University of Illinois Chicago Flames. This article was written by Sam Dicus