Belmont falls to Lipscomb 64-53 in “pandemic”

Shooting 35 percent from the floor, 12 percent from three-point range and 42 percent from the free throw line isn’t the way to beat your biggest rival on their home court.  Belmont found that out the hard way, losing to Lipscomb 64-53 on Monday night at Allen Arena.

“It was the worst offensive performance from a Belmont team that I’ve ever seen,” Belmont head coach Rick Byrd said.

“It was a pandemic, if that’s the right word.  Everything (we) didn’t do well—execute, shoot, decision-making, free throw shooting, blocking out.”

Lipscomb, however, wasn’t much better percentage-wise.  They only made 22 of 60 field goal attempts and shot just 13 percent from behind the arc.  But sharp(er) free throw shooting (68 percent) and gutsy plays down the stretch by junior guard Josh Slater gave Lipscomb the edge.

Slater led all scorers with 16 points and also grabbed 14 rebounds.

“I can’t say enough about my teammates.  We have great trust in each other.  The ball just happened to be in my hands, so I just tried my best to make a play,” Slater said.

Prior to the game, all eyes were on the matchup between Lipscomb big man Adnan Hodzic against Belmont’s inside tandem of Scott Saunders and Mick Hedgepeth.

Saunders started out strong scoring the first basket of the game—the only lead Belmont had in the game.   From there, things went downhill as Saunders and Hedgepeth each went into halftime with three personal fouls.

“It certainly isn’t good when our two (centers) have six fouls between them and Hodzic doesn’t have any,” Byrd said.

Hodzic finished the game with 15 points and didn’t record his first foul until the 8:54 mark in the second half.

Belmont’s freshmen backcourt of Ian Clark—who scored 31 points last Monday night—and Kerron Johnson were held to just 11 points on 3-of-15 shooting.

“When things start going badly, a young team totally loses its poise and I think you saw that,” Byrd said.  “(Lipscomb) deserves all the credit.”

Monday night’s game marked the 20^th anniversary of the original “Battle of the Boulevard” in 1989.  Lipscomb won that contest 124-105—a combined 229 points.  The Bruins and Bisons collectively scored just 117 points on Monday.