TriCitiesSports.Com: Bruins Take it to the House in Win over Bucs

With things slowing down for the week due to exams, we'll shift our attention to the work that some of CWOSSA's alums have been doing at the post-secondary level.  To start things out, here's an impressive outing by former Guelph Centennial star (and now Nashville's Belmont University senior) Jon House.  His Bruins are the early favourite to advance to the NCAA tourney from the Atlantic Sun, as they have amassed an 18-3 overall record with their only three losses coming to Vanderbilt and Tennessee (twice) ---- and the losses to those two SEC teams were only by 11, 9 and 1.

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TriCitiesSports.com
January 23, 2011

JOHNSON CITY – When you play Belmont, you pick your poison.

East Tennessee State chose to take its chances with the 3-point shot Sunday and eventually died in the last five minutes as the Bruins strengthened their grip atop the Atlantic Sun Conference with a 72-62 win in front of 4,299 at the Mountain States Center.

Jon House was the unlikely star for Belmont (18-3, 10-0) with 17 points – 12 above his average – six rebounds and six assists. Ian Clark added 14 points and Jordan Campbell canned 12 off the bench, all on 3-pointers.

The Buccaneers (13-8, 8-2) opted to limit the Bruins’ 1-2 post punch of Mick Hedgepeth and Scott Saunders, double-teaming on every touch and restricting the two – which combine for 22.6 ppg – to seven shot attempts and five points.

“You look at those number s and those are pretty good,” ETSU coach Murry Bartow said, “but what beat us in the end was House scoring 17 points.”

Although they never led for the game’s last 37 minutes, 40 seconds, the Bucs made Belmont work for its ninth straight win.

Playing without starting guard Justin Tubbs (ankle), ETSU trailed by 14 points late in the first half, but gradually chipped away at the deficit behind Micah Williams’ shot-making and evened the score at 52 when Sheldon Cooley drained two free throws at the 8:50 mark.

Without Tubbs and with Mike Smith struggling to a 5-of-15, 11-point day, the Bucs hung in behind Williams, who scored 12 points in a 4:11 span early in the second half on his way to a game-high 22.

“I knew I had to be aggressive,” Williams said. “The team needed me to score.”

While Williams put ETSU in position to win, it ultimately couldn’t overcome the Bruins’ superior depth or its plethora of 3-point shooters.

Belmont reserves, which entered the game as the third-highest scoring bench in the nation, outscored the Bucs’ injury-depleted subs 29-2. The Bruins also drilled 12-of-26 3-pointers, including critical hits from Clark and Campbell in the last four minutes.

Seven different players sank 3s for Belmont, whose only losses have come on the road against Southeastern Conference foes Tennessee (twice) and Vanderbilt, none by more than nine points.

“They had a real good scheme against us inside,” Bruins coach Rick Byrd said. “They doubled us right away in the first half and then they switched up in the second half to double us on the first dribble. They were well-prepared.

“But our shooters came through and hit some big 3s for us. We also had some random guys come in and hit key 3s through the course of the game to keep us ahead.”

Bartow said Belmont’s superior depth led to offensive woes down the stretch. Four starters worked between 36 and 39 minutes for ETSU and it showed in the endgame as shots routinely banged off the front iron.

“We were fatigued a bit at the end,” he said.

Isiah Brown scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Bucs, but limped off the floor with an ankle injury after the game and might not play Tuesday night when USC Upstate visits for another conference game. Cooley scored 10 points.

While Bartow made a point of emphasizing that the team’s goal – a third straight A-Sun tourney title – is still within reach, Byrd said his team would savor its sixth win in seven trips to Johnson City.

“I don’t know why we play so well here,” he said. “I just know that winning a game like this is the best feeling. You win on the road against a good team like this and it feels better than winning at home. It means something more.”

Buc Bits: Bartow isn’t sure if Tubbs will be available for the Upstate game … While ETSU’s starters rarely got rest, the Bruins used no starter for longer than Clark’s 26 minutes. Five Belmont reserves logged at least 13 minutes … The Bucs’ only home win against the Bruins since they joined the A-Sun was an 87-57 blowout in January 2009.

BELMONT (72) – Noack 1-3 0-0 2, Hedgepeth 1-3 0-0 2, Hanlen 2-5 3-5 8, House 6-14 4-5 17, Clark 5-11 1-1 14, Jenkins 0-0 0-0 0, Johnson 2-2 1-1 6, Mann 1-3 0-0 3, Saunders 1-4 1-2 3, Barnes 0-0 0-0 0, Campbell 4-5 0-1 12, Baker 2-5 0-0 5. Totals 25-55 10-15 72.

EAST TENNESSEE STATE (62) – Smith 5-15 0-0 11, Brown 5-10 1-2 11, Cooley 3-8 4-4 10, Williams 7-12 5-7 22, Sollazzo 2-4 2-3 6, Poderis 0-0 0-0 0, Ward 0-1 1-2 1, Wilkinson 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 22-50 14-20 62.


Halftime—Belmont 37-29. 3-Point Goals—Belmont 12-26 (Campbell 4-5, Clark 3-7, Johnson 1-1, Mann 1-1, Hanlen 1-3, Baker 1-3, House 1-4, Noack 0-2), East Tennessee State 4-8 (Williams 3-4, Smith 1-4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Belmont 34 (Noack 7), East Tennessee State 31 (Smith, Brown 8). Assists—Belmont 16 (House 6), East Tennessee State 9 (Cooley, Sollazzo 3). Total Fouls—Belmont 16, East Tennessee State 17. Officials—Gattis, Nance, Hampton. A—4,299.

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