Friday, March 03, 2006

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – Second-seeded Belmont held off a torrid Stetson team 72-59 in semifinal action of the 2006 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Men’s Basketball Championship at Memorial Center on Friday night and completed the pairing for Saturday’s championship game.

The Bruins (19-10) will face Nashville neighbor Lipscomb Saturday at 2 p.m. for the tourney title and the accompanying automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The schools are separated by a mere 2.5 miles.

Belmont got a steady effort down the roster in knocking off the Hatters, who had the nation’s fifth longest winning streak coming into the contest with nine straight victories.

Four Bruins finished in double-figure scoring with Josh Goodwin and Boomer Herndon leading the way with 15 each. Justin Hare had 12 points and Andy Wicke added 10 to the cause. Herndon added nine rebounds. With Stetson threatening to rally for the upset in the final minutes, Belmont found the range from outside to extend the lead. Then, the Bruins calmly sank 13-of-14 free throws to set the final margin.

After seeing the margin narrowed to 54-48, Goodwin gave Belmont a boost with a long 3-pointer. Seconds later, Hare canned a jumper from just inside the line to push the lead back to 11.

Outside shooting wasn’t the strong point for the normally sharp-shooting Bruins. They made just 4-of-12 from 3-point range in the first half (7-of-17 for the game) and only hit 43 percent of all shots from the floor, but a strong defensive effort carried them

Stetson (14-18) was held under 35 percent from the floor and could only muster a 6-for-23 effort from beyond the arc. The Hatters made several attempts to rally against the Bruins. After losing the lead for the last time at the 16:24 mark of the first half, Stetson was able to keep it close. A five-point spurt by E. J. Gordon late in the half trimmed Belmont’s lead to 25-24, but Andy Wicke answered with a 3-pointer and Hare hit a runner at the halftime buzzer to help the Bruins pulled back out.

In the second half, the Hatters got back to within one point when Anthony Register hit a 3-pointer and followed that with a short jumper. Stetson seemed to have a stop on the other end, but two Belmont offensive rebounds ultimately led to a Herndon three-point play with 14:35 showing. That sparked a 9-2 run and the Hatters couldn’t close the gap again.

Karl Hollingsworth tried to give Stetson a chance by making three 3s and three free throws in the final seven minutes, but it wasn’t enough. Hollingsworth finished with a career-high 24 points. Gordon tossed in 15 for the Hatters and Register finished with 11.

General Notes
• The win was No. 400 for Belmont coach Rick Byrd in 20 years at the helm in Nashville. He has 492 wins in his 25-year career.
• Belmont didn’t reach it’s magic number of nine 3-pointers, but seven was enough. The Bruins are 13-1 when making nine or more 3s.
• Belmont has now outshot 17 of their last 20 opponents. The Bruins accomplished this stat despite hitting sven percentage points lower than their season average of .503.
• Belmont sweeps Stetson for the season. The Bruins are the only Atlantic Sun team the Hatters did not beat at least once.

Belmont Notes
• Brian Collins will have to wait another night to make history. Needing just four assists to become the schools single-season leader, Collins finished Friday’s game with only one dish.

• Josh Goodwin likes the dome. In three games inside Memorial Center this year, he has made 18 3-pointers and scored 67 points.
• The Bruins improve to 8-6 all-time against Stetson and evened their overall A-Sun tournament mark at 4-4.
• Belmont split with Lipscomb during the regular season with each team winning on its home court. The Bruins beat the Bisons 81-65 on Jan. 31 and lost 97-85 in overtime on Jan. 20.

Stetson Notes
• Stetson’s remarkably up and down season ends with a 14-18 record. The Hatters lost their first 10 games and were 2-16 overall before righting the ship. The nine straight wins trailed only George Washington, Gonzaga, Coastal Carolina and Nevada for longest streak in the nation.
• The loss leaves Stetson one win short of a school record 10 consecutive wins sets in 1980-81. The 32 games played this season is a school record.
• Stetson is 8-16 overall in A-Sun tourney play, but are 2-12 in their last 14.
• E.J. Gordon finishes his Stetson career as the schools second leading scorer. His final tally puts him 137 points short of Kerry Blackshear. Gordon and Anthony Register have combined to put up some impressive statistical totals. Combined, they have 3,105 points, 1,049 rebounds, 475 assists and 407 steals.