Justin Hare paced the Bruins with 17 points on Wednesday night. Photo courtesy of ASun Photos
Date Posted: 3/5/2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The Belmont Bruins began their quest for a third-straight conference tournament title on the right foot on Wednesday night. The Bruins fought off the advances of a scrappy Campbell squad to come away with a 75-66 victory in first round action at the 2008 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Basketball Championship.
Top-seeded Belmont looked to be in control of the game early, going into halftime with a commanding 44-29 lead. But Campbell refused to go away. The Camels mounted a furious second half comeback, cutting the deficit to as little as four after a lay-up by Oladapo Fagbenle with 5:39 remaining.
Two-time tournament MVP Justin Hare led the attack for the Bruins (23-8), pouring in 17 points and dishing out five assists. Shane Dansby chipped in with 12 points of his own while grabbing a game-high eight boards.
Campbell (10-20) followed the lead of Kyle Vejraska, who produced a game-high 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting to go along with five boards and three blocks. The Camels’ leading scorer throughout the season, Jonathan Rodriguez, was held four points below his average, ending the night with 17 points and eight rebounds.
As a team, the Bruins had only two blocks compared to Campbell's five, but none was bigger than Andy Wicke's swat late in the second half.
With 1:24 to go in the contest and Belmont leading 67-61, Campbell’s Reggie Bishop appeared as though he would have an uncontested lay-up to cut the Bruin lead to four. Wicke recovered on defense and rejected Bishop's attempt, with the ensuing possession leading to a Hare lay-up to put the game out of reach for the Camels.
Belmont will move on the semifinals, where they will face either ETSU or Lipscomb on Friday night at 8:15 CT.