CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo.– Belmont (11-5, 2-1) shot 78.6 percent in the second half en route to an 89-64 win over Southeast Missouri (4-12, 0-3) Thursday night in Ohio Valley Conference action at the Show Me Center.
Belmont held a four-point lead (40-36) at halftime before going on a 12-2 run to start its scorching second half. The Bruins scored the first nine points of the second stanza.
The Bruins made 22-of-28 field goals as 14 of their made field goals came on layups in the second half. Belmont outscored SEMO, 49-28, in the game's final 20 minutes.
SEMO got off to a good start behind
Quatarrius Wilson who scored 10 points in 10 minutes of action in the first half.
After Belmont took a 14-6 lead with 14:28 remaining, scored six of his points in the next 2:16 and put the Redhawks ahead, 17-16 on a jumper at the 11:43 mark.
That would be SEMO's only lead of the half as Belmont managed to stretch its lead to 31-22 on a layup by Nick Muszynski.
SEMO then outscored the Bruins 15-7 over the final 6:32 of the first half to pull to within four at the intermission.
The Redhawks shot 45.5 percent (15-of-33) in the first half with six players getting in the scoring column. SEMO also outrebounded Belmont, 21-15, with a +3 (5-2) advantage on the offensive glass.
Oscar Kao led SEMO with a career-high 15 points as one of four double-digit scorers for the Redhawks.
Sage Tolbert and
Alex Caldwell each followed with 11 and Wilson added 10.
The Redhawks finished with a 42.9 percent (24-of-56) clip from the field for the night.
Belmont, meanwhile, shot 62.3 percent (38-of-61) and buried nine 3-pointers to SEMO's two. The Bruins also assisted 27 of their 38 made field goals.
Tyler Scanlon led Belmont with 21 points. Nick Muszynski chipped in 14 and Adam Kunkel had 14 points and eight assists. Grayson Murphy dished out a game-high nine assists and Caleb Hollander pitched in 13 points off the bench.
SEMO, which lost its third-straight game and eighth in its last nine contests, remains home to host Tennessee State Saturday.
