FROM THE BELMONT WEB SITE:

JOHNSON CITY, TENN. - - If Thursday night’s spell-binding contest in the mountains of Tennessee is any barometer, Belmont is in for a thrilling season.

Behind Josh Goodwin’s career-high 39 points and 11 three-pointers, the Bruins rallied for a dramatic 88-85 overtime victory over East Tennessee State.

ETSU jumped on Belmont early and led the entire first half. Forward Dillion Sneed scored 11 points in the first eight minutes, punishing the Bruins on post moves and interior putbacks.

The Bucs advantage swelled to as many as 13 behind the unselfish play of heralded guard Tim Smith, but Belmont junior Josh Goodwin (Pegram, Tenn.) almost single-handedly kept the Bruins afloat with five three-pointers in the opening stanza.

With Belmont struggling from the arc, shooting 6-for-21 in the first twenty minutes, ETSU led at intermission 44-33.

The Bruins opened the second half ice cold as well, with Goodwin the only player seemingly able to find the range. But with the sharp-shooting junior in total control, Belmont chipped away. Consecutive threes from Goodwin and freshman Andy Wicke (Hendersonville, Tenn.), the Bruins closed to 68-63 with 4:05 remaining.

That set the stage for a frenetic final two minutes. Two free throws from Brad Nuckles put ETSU up 75-68 with 54 seconds to go. But a conventional three-point play from Justin Hare (Cleveland, Tenn.), then two free throws and a deep three-pointer from Goodwin cut it to 78-77 with 15 seconds left. Smith proceeded to make two free throws, but Hare’s straight on three-pointer tied it at 80 with six seconds to go.

Smith’s acrobatic 10 foot teardrop at the buzzer rimmed off, and the game went to overtime.

Following an exchange of free throws, Wicke’s wing trey in front of the Bruin bench gave Belmont its first lead of the game at 86-83. Then moments later Justin Hare’s pullup jumper over Smith pushed the margin to five, 88-83.

Travis Strong added a layup to cut it to 88-85, but off-balance three-point attempts from Smith, Courtney Pegram, and Nuckles missed in the final 15 seconds gave Belmont a courageous road win.

“Josh is one of our most confident players, he’s in great shape, plays a lot of minutes– and it goes to show you how all the off-season work pays off,

Yeah...whats your point. You won a game.

Ahh, maybe you're right after all. Folks, we are TERRIBLE. It starts at the top. We need a new head coach. LU 56 ETSU 54. Its the lowest point total for ETSU since 1997 I believe.

ETSUFan -- have you seen either of these games live?

Was there for both of them. Belmont is legit. Lipscomb just look BAD, but we always have a way of making bad teams look great. LU might not be a bad team, but they looked it today.

Lip is much better then Bel. Bel is a one man show. Number 5 their center does everything.

Cross posting my comment from another board.

"Only thing I saw positive was the women's game.

Men's game I didn't even see something that you could disguise as positive. The game would have been a blow-out by DL had they hit any decent percentage in the first half.

Anyone that was there today could see what is wrong with the program by watching the dynamics/interactions on the bench. Nuff said."

In no way is Belmont a one man show. They played as a team. Herndon #5 only had 10 or so points against us.

Well then KSU's D played REALLY well against the others.. they cant hit a three for the life of them.

Oh I can explain that, they were tired from shooting those uncontested at ETSU earlier in the week.

Chalk one up for good D on the rest of them:

Belmont has ranked in the top-5 nationally in three-point
field goals per game five times in the last six
years and drained the second-most in the NCAA last
year at 9.73 per game.

Boomer is hardly the show at Belmot..they go 6 or seven deep. But, MR. ETSU it shows what a tough league this will be for you. Kennesaw just beat Belmont last night. PLUS--Rick Byrd at Belmont is one of the best coaches I have seen over the tears in BIG 12, PAC 10, WAC and MTN WEST games that Ihave witnessed out here in the West. His offense is fun to watch and they could be a NCAA entry or NIT again.