Thursday, January 06, 2011

DeLAND, Fla. - - Belmont head coach Rick Byrd claimed his 500th career victory at Belmont Wednesday night as the Bruins defeated Stetson, 70-53.

The Bruins picked right up where they left off from a hot-shooting second half at Florida Gulf Coast, as sophomore Ian Clark (Memphis, Tenn.) buried a deep three-pointer over the Hatters' 3-2 halfcourt zone to open the scoring.

Following two straight layins from junior Mick Hedgepeth (Crossville, Ala.), Stetson claimed an 11-9 lead on a wing three-pointer from Corey Walden.

But the Hatters' lone lead of the game would be short-lived, as Clark answered back with a three-pointer of his own 10 seconds later to put the Bruins back on top.

After a baseline three-pointer from freshman J.J. Mann (Smyrna, Ga.), fellow freshman Blake Jenkins (Knoxville, Tenn.) capped a 10-0 Bruin run with a layin to make the score 19-11 with 10:49 left in the half.

Senior Jordan Campbell (Indianapolis, Ind.) added a wing three-pointer to increase the lead to 11, 24-13, with 8:44 left in the half.

The Bruins used solid halfcourt defense and patience on offense to maintain a nice working margin.

Byrd joins Syracuse's Jim Boeheim (844), Duke's Mike Krzyzewski (809), Connecticut's Jim Calhoun (586), and Sacred Heart's Dave Bike (500) as the only active head coaches in NCAA Division I college basketball with 500 or more victories at their current school.

Byrd ranks 11th among all active head coaches with 592 career victories, which includes time at Maryville and Lincoln Memorial.