In the 135th iteration of the Battle of the Boulevard, the Bisons lost to their same-street rival Belmont for the sixth consecutive time 87-62.
Sophomore Josh Williams was one of the few bright spots for the Bisons. He scored 13 points and grabbed four rebounds.
The Bruins started off the game scorching with a pair of quick baskets from Junior Craig Bradshaw and Senior Reece Chamberlain in front of the raucous Lipscomb crowd. The baskets helped spark a 19-5 to begin the game for Belmont.
By the halfway point of the first half, the Bisons cut the lead down to single digits, 24-16 thanks to the trio of senior Martin Smith, sophomore J.C. Hampton and Williams.
In what was a game of streaks, the Bruins responded with another hot streak of their own. Belmont held a commanding 40-26 lead with less than three minutes left to play before halftime.
“When we go on a run, it just takes one simple thing like a missed rotation or a breakdown just to stop the run,” Smith said, “We just got to get the little things right.”
Smith scored surpassed 1,000 points for his career on the night, joining his brother Malcolm who surpassed the milestone in the 2014 Atlantic Sun Tournament.
“It feels pretty good, wish we could’ve got the win though.” Smith said.
Had it not been for a pair of three point plays, one traditional and one the hard way, from Williams and another three from freshman Nate Moran in the final moments of the half, the halftime deficit may have been insurmountable. The Bisons, however, only trailed by 11, 48-37, heading into the locker room.
Despite the 9-0 run to end the first half, that was as close as the Bisons would get. Belmont came out on fire in the second half, quickly building their lead to a comfortable 20 points at the 14 minute mark, 65-45.
It was only fitting that a dagger three from Bradshaw followed by a fast break basket from Chamberlain put the Bruins up 80-57 with under five minutes to play sealing the win.
Smith and sophomore Brett Wishon both finished in double figures for Lipscomb at 12 and 11 points, while junior Talbott Denny led the Bisons in rebounding with nine to go along with six points.
Bradshaw led all scorers for the game with 22 points to go along with eight assists, five rebounds, two steals and a block.
Chamberlain steadied the Bruins all night, finishing with a full stat line of eight points, five assists, four rebounds, four steals and a block.
Sophomores Taylor Barnette, Nick Smith and Evan Bradds also added to the balanced scoring attack for Belmont, notching 17, 13 and 9 points respectively.
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
Gallery and carousel photo by Erin Turner
Additional reporting by Cory Woodroof