The UTM men’s basketball squad was embroiled in a battle for the first 27-plus minutes today but a prolonged scoring run aided Belmont in an 89-69 victory at the Curb Event Center.
The Skyhawks gave the Ohio Valley Conference-leading Bruins all that they wanted, holding a lead early in the second half behind a season-best 10-of-20 effort from beyond the three-point arc. UTM (3-6, 1-4 OVC) out-rebounded Belmont by a 38-32 margin and turned 13 offensive rebounds into 12 second-chance points but the Bruins scored 18 unanswered points in the second half to put the game away.
Anthony Thomas played the best game of his freshman season today, tallying career-highs in scoring (21 points), rebounding (6) and steals (2). He was 7-of-16 from the field – including a 3-for-6 performance from three-point range – and knocked down all four of his free throw attempts.
The Skyhawks also saw Eden Holt (11 points) and Cameron Holden (10) score in double figures today. Hannes Polla grabbed a career-best eight rebounds in only 12 minutes while Holt handed out six of UTM’s 11 assists.
Belmont improved to 12-1 with a 6-0 OVC mark as Jacobi Wood equaled a game-high with 21 points. Nick Muszynski (11 points), Even Brauns (10) and EJ Bellinger (10) also helped pace the Bruins while Grayson Murphy (9 points, game-highs of 9 rebounds and 7 assists) flirted with a triple-double.
“The final score is not indicative of how the game was played,” Skyhawk interim head coach Montez Robinson said. “I thought our guys came out and played very hard in the first half. In the second half, Belmont was able to get out in transition, make some wide-open threes and had a couple of and-ones. When you play a team like Belmont, you have to play perfect because they’re not going to beat themselves.”
Polla opened the game’s scoring with a pair of free throws at the 19:03 mark before Thomas went off. The freshman out of Silver Spring, Md. pumped in 12 UTM points in a row over a span of 6:51 to help the offense flow.
After a layup by La-Quiem Walker at the 9:29 mark gave the Skyhawks a 16-15 advantage, the Bruins answered with a 7-0 run. UTM quickly struck with 10 of the next 13 points to reclaim the lead at 26-25 after a swooping layup by Ajani Kennedy with 5:29 to go before the halftime break.
Belmont then tallied the next nine points of the contest but three-pointers by Holden and Kennedy late in the first half helped the Skyhawks cut their deficit to 38-34 at the intermission.
Thomas’ dozen points led all first-half scorers as UTM shot 60 percent (6-of-10) from three-point land in the first 20 minutes. Muszynski and Ben Sheppard shared the team lead with seven points apiece for the Bruins.
Shortly into the start of the second half, a big dunk by Holden ignited a 7-1 Skyhawk run. Holt canned a deep three-pointer from the right wing while Walker converted a tough hook shot in the paint to make the score 42-41 in favor of UTM with 17:52 to go.
Belmont retook the lead but it was still a one-possession game after another Holt trifecta made the score 52-49 with 14 minutes remaining. However, the Bruins accounted for 18 unanswered points over a stretch of 4:11. By the time Holden ended the Skyhawk scoring drought with a 12-foot pull-up jumper at the 9:15 mark, Belmont’s lead was too large to overcome.
UTM hosts a pair of OVC opponents next week at the Kathleen and Tom Elam Center. The Skyhawks will take on Austin Peay at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14 before hosting Murray State at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 16.
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