The men’s basketball team won an extremely close match with Tennessee Tech 65-62 in the final home game of the year on Thursday night.
Though the Bruins scored the lowest they had in all of conference play, late game free throws and great work in the paint from Nick Muszynski.
“When our guys are well prepared and they’re a confident group, and you just have to trust they’ll make the plays and execute when their numbers are called,” said head coach Casey Alexander.
Muszynski dropped 23 points to help lead the Bruins to their ninth straight win.
Unlike most of Belmont’s games, the Bruins struggled to jump on Tennessee Tech early, leading Golden Eagles 13-12 with 12 minutes to go. Graduate transfer Tyler Scanlon scored 12 points off of four straight 3-pointers in the final seven minutes of the half.
This helped the Bruins take a 38-28 lead with 1:20 to go but a quick bucket by Tech gave the Bruins a 38-30 lead at halftime. Scanlon scored 15 points in the first half but only scored 1 in the entire second half.
The second half was not much different than the first as the Golden Eagles never let the Bruins have a lead of more than 11 points. Tennessee Tech shot 40 percent from behind the arc which helped them stay extremely close.
A Tech three and a jumper got the team within one as the Bruins led 54-53. But a Muszynksi layup and helped the Bruins hold their lead.
Golden Eagles Keishawn Davisdson and Jr. Clay scored 17 and 12 points respectively.
The game came down the wire as the Golden Eagles came within two with 1:29 left but a Scanlon free throw and back-to-back missed deep three’s from Tech gave the Bruins the win.
Belmont will at least tie for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference if they beat Tennessee State in their final game of the season.
If the Bruins finish top two in the standings, they will get a first-round bye and will play in the semifinal game of the OVC Tournament in Evansville, Indiana.
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Photos by Bronte Lebo.