The men’s basketball team plays a near perfect game rebounding 56 and shooting 47 percent in their 87-56 win against Eastern Kentucky at the Curb Event Center on Thursday night.
Going to their big men Nick Muszynksi and Seth Adelsperger paid off. Muszynski continued to dominate the paint with picture perfect hook shots scoring 16 points and rebounding eight. Adelsperger had a career night scoring 12 points and picking up eight boards after spending most of the season under the radar.
EKU came into Thursday’s game with a great defense and played a full-court press all night but the Bruins adapted behind the leadership of Grayson Murphy and showed nothing but complete efficiency.
The Bruins started off extremely hot taking a 15-7 lead with 13 minutes to go in the first half. Adelsperger scored six points in that time including a magnificent dunk that came out of nowhere.
“I was at the right place at the right time. Kunk did a great job in finding me in those first two pick and rolls,” said Adelsperger.
The Bruins went on a six minute 16-2 run in the middle of the first half which helped solidify its win.
“We made things happen early and it was nice to get that lead early and the game was really in a hands from then on,” said head coach Casey Alexander.
EKU’s team struggled to pull anything together to fight back against Belmont’s fast paced offense. Jomaru Brown dropped 25 points and shot 5-9 from behind the arc but the rest of his team struggled to produce anything.
Though the Bruins only shot 28 percent from the 3-point line, they drilled them when they needed to get the fans going. Adam Kunkel who scored 12 points is no stranger crowd-roaring three’s as he 2-6 from behind the arc. Caleb Hollander also drilled two 3-pointers as he scored 8 points and rebounded seven.
But one of the most impressive performances once again was from Murphy. He commanded the court all night being everywhere he needed to be, giving the Belmont faithful one great show.
“The energy was from the crowd and from what we gave to them and Grayson always has something to do with that,” said Alexander. “He made so many big plays and emotional plays early in the game for us.”
Murphy dropped 7 points, rebounded 10 and assisted five. He created multiple scoring opportunities when it looked like Belmont had nothing.
Looking back to the Bruins first conference game, losing to SIU-Edwardsville, the Bruins look like a completely different team. Belmont continue to improve its defense and make less mistakes.
Belmont moves onto Morehead State at the Curb on Saturday in what could be the beginning of a fun win-streak in the Ohio Valley Conference.
“It comes down to controlling the controllables,” said Adelsperger. “You just need to be as constant as you can and do a good job.”
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Photos by Colby Crosby.