Monday, January 24, 2011

OHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Behind the determined play of seniors Jon House and Jordan Campbell, Belmont defeated ETSU, 72-62, in a showdown for first place in the Atlantic Sun.

Belmont won its ninth straight game, it's longest win streak since winning 13 in a row from Jan. 26, 2008 through the A-Sun title-game win against Jacksonville on March 8, 2008. The Bruins improved to 10-0 in the A-Sun, becoming the first A-Sun school to open 10-0 since UCF in 2003-04.

After Mike Smith got the host Bucs on the board with a three-pointer, House replied with an offensive rebound basket and a three-pointer to put the Bruins on top. The Bruins would not trail again.

House continued his assertive offensive start with a conventional three-point play moments later to give Belmont an 8-5 lead.

Following three-pointers from Campbell and sophomore Brandon Baker (Milford, Ohio), a dunk from Isiah Brown trimmed the margin to 16-13 midway through the first half.

Sophomore Ian Clark (Memphis, Tenn.) then sank a wing three-pointer before sophomore Trevor Noack (Keller, Texas) scored on the offensive glass to push the lead to six.

Junior Drew Hanlen (St. Louis, Mo.) would then steal an ETSU pass on the inbounds play and score at the rim to extend the lead to 23-15 with 8:06 left in the first half.

Two more confident Campbell three-pointers, a Clark conventional three-point play, and a Baker layin capped the 18-7 run to push the Bruins to a 34-20 edge with 2:32 left in the half.

Adam Sollazzo and Micah Williams would enable the Bucs to cut the lead to 37-29 at halftime.

Belmont shot 45 percent (14-for-31) from the field in the opening 20 minutes - including 7-for-15 from three-point distance. House had 10 points at halftime.