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3/1/2007 - MEN'S BASKETBALL
Belmont Defeats Gardner-Webb in Opening Game
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JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. - Defending tournament champion and No.2 seeded Belmont gunned its way to a first-round win in game one of the 2007 General Shale Brick Atlantic Sun Men's Basketball Championship with a 79-61 win over No.7 Gardner-Webb Thursday in Memorial Center.
The Bruins (21-9) lit up the scoreboard from 3-point range, dropping in 11-of-21 tries from beyond the arc. Success from long range was spread among several players. Matthew Dotson, Josh Goodwin and Justin Hare hit three 3-pointers each. Andy Wicke dropped in two.
Hare led all scorers with 14 points for the Bruins. Dotson added 13, Goodwin 11 and Wicke 10. The attack wasn't limited to outside the arc. Andrew Preston added 12 points and 11 rebounds from his position in the paint.
The game was one of droughts and runs with both teams taking advantage of the other's offensive lapses. Belmont got the first opportunity to run out to a sizeable lead. The Bruins reeled off a 12-0 run to take a 22-8 lead. In that time, the Bulldogs couldn't find the basket, going 6:10 without scoring. Hare and Matthew Dotson hit 3s in the run for the Bruins.
Just minutes later, Gardner-Webb (9-21) returned the favor. The Bulldogs defense kept Belmont off the scoreboard for 5:40. Meanwhile, they were finding the range from beyond the 3-point line. Chris Gash, Grayson Flittner and Jake Sims hit 3s in a 13-2 run. Herndon finally stopped Belmont's bleeding with a pair of free throws, but the Bulldogs would keep coming. Ricky McPhee hit yet another 3 for G-W to get the Bulldogs as close as they would come at 1:47. Hare hit back-to-back bombs just before the half, however, to put Belmont back up by five at the half, 33-28.
The second half was more of the same. Belmont kept pushing its lead and following consecutive 3-pointers by Dotson and Goodwin led by 13. Gardner-Webb would not go away. A long-range jumper by Thomas Sanders pulled the Bulldogs to within two at 52-50 with 9:18 remaining. On the very next possession, Sanders grabbed three offensive rebounds trying to get the game even and was eventually fouled. He missed both free throws, though, and the scare woke up the Bruins.
Belmont tore off 19 straight points and held Gardner-Webb scoreless for 6:22 to put the game away. Everyone on the floor contributed for the Bruins in the stretch. Goodwin had five, Andrew Preston four, Hare hit a jumper and Wicke added five more. Belmont's sharp-shooting from the outside overshadowed a good effort from 3-point range for the Bulldogs, who hit 7-of-20 tries.
Chris Gash ended his career with a 12 points, seven rebound performance. Sanders finished with a double-double, posting 12 points and 12 rebounds.
General Notes
- Belmont's win evens the all-time series between the Bruins and Bulldogs. Each
school has won seven games against the other. This was the first time they had
met in the A-Sun tournament.
- Belmont enters as the No.2 seed for the fourth time. That's a pretty good
spot to start from. The two-seed has won three straight tournaments.
- The No.2 seed improves to 22-4 in tournament games against the No.7 seed.
Ironically, the last two-seed to lose was Belmont in 2003.
Belmont Notes
- The Bruins are hot from 3-point range. In their last five games, they have
knocked down 67-of-144 attempts from outside the arc. Andy Wicke, who went 2-for-3
against Gardner-Webb, has been the hottest, hitting 31-of-57.
- Belmont has held a rebounding advantage (+2.8) over opponents and figured
to have the advantage over the Bulldogs (-5.3). Instead, Gardner-Webb outrebounded
the Bruins 39-28.
- The top-shooting team in the A-Sun lived up to that billing. The Bruins
hit 59 percent of their shots in game one.
- Belmont is now 4-1 in A-Sun tournament opening-round games.
Gardner-Webb Notes
- Gardner-Webb was not able to overcome its lowest seed in A-Sun tournament
history. The Bulldogs are now 2-1 in quarterfinal games and 3-3 overall in the
tourney.
- The Bulldogs finish the season 0-12 when teams score 75 or more points against
them.
- Gardner-Webb made only 37 percent of its shots against Belmont and had 16
turnovers. The Bulldogs are 0-14 when shooting under 40 percent and 1-17 when
committing 15 or more turnovers.
