Nov. 17, 2008

Pregame: After winning the first game of the season, coach Byrd and the men's basketball team will look to continue their success against in-state opponent Austin Peay in a 7 p.m. game at the Curb Event Center. Tonight and throughout the season I will be blogging from press row to bring you an insiders perspective on Belmont Basketball. Please feel free to leave your own perspective in the comments link at the bottom of the page. See you at tip-off!

6:25: There is about thirty minutes until the tip-off here at the Curb, a good time to tell y'all a little about myself. I (Brian Karst) am a first year graduate student hailing from the great state of Kansas. I came to Belmont as graduate assistant for media relations, working with our volleyball team and softball in the spring, after graduating from K-State in May.

That said, I will be experiencing Belmont basketball for the first time this season so please 'bear' with me as I exponentially grow in my knowledge of Byrd's boys this season. I'm looking forward to it very much.

6:55: To give you some perspective, I am sitting right in front of the student section at mid-court on press row. From what I here, the student section was intense for our home opener on Friday against Samform. Let's hope for the same, Austin Peay is a good team.

7:01: The starting lineup for tonight is Alex Renfroe, Andy Wicke, Matthew Dotson, Jon House and Henry Harris. House gets his first start of the young season.

7:13: The Bruins got off to a slow start early going down 2-7, but after a couple of free-throws and a three pointer the score is tied 7-7 at 15:58. APSU is shooting well from the field; shades of their 60-point first half in last year's game at the Curb.

7:20: Andy Wicke's aggressive defense payed off when he tipped a pass that led to a break-away steal from Campbell who passed the outlet to Wick, who quickly dished it to Renfroe for a momentum-changing dunk to tie to score at 11.

7:31: This in-state match-up is shaping up to be a classic the teams are in a physical battle with the score tied at 27. Soon thereafter the Bruins went on a quick 10-2 with a pair of threes from House and Wicke. Byrd is using his bench as only two players that suited up have not checked in.

7:41: The Bruins are in a swatting mood as the last two APSU possessions have seen a rejection from Keaton Belcher and Harris. Keaton's swat hit the camerawomen at the base of the goal, which parts of the audience seemed to get a kick out of, prompting a 'You have to put that in your blog, Brian!'

7:55: At half the Bruins lead the Govs 49-37. For the halftime entertainment a shooting whiz who performs all over the country at places like Duke, Wake Forest, UCLA, etc., showed all the Bruin fans his talents. If you see this guy walking in the hallway -- an elderly man, white haired, slightly slouched posture -- you would never expect him to hit 43 of 52 3-point shots!! Amazing. We wish him luck for the rest of the season; as Belmont fans, we know best how much a good 3-point shooter can come in handy.

8:08: The second half started with a surge from the Govs, quickly going on a 11-4 run in the first four minutes. House currently leads Bemont scorers with 13 on 6-7 shooting and the 2006-07 OVC Player of the Year Drake Reed leads all scorers with 14.

8:17: The Govs closed the gap on a 12 point deficit at halftime by continuing their second half run, now 28-11, to take the lead 65-60 at 10:39.

8:29: With APSU now leading 79-70, it seems the all the momentum is pointing the Govs' way. They are making their open shots and pressured Belmont's offense -- drawing two recent charges.

8:39: The Bruins are trying their best to make a late surge, currently on a 10-2 run after a steal and a hot-potato fast break between Renfroe and Wicke that resulted in a high-contact, no foul lay in from Renfroe.

8:45: After two missed free throws from Renfroe the Bruins got the ball back after an out-of-bounds turn over by the Govs. Belcher missed the ensuing three, allowing Renfroe to redeem himself by swiping the board and putting the ball back up for the basket and the foul -- plus to free throw shot to tie the game at 84.

8:49: When the Govs got the ball back they missed a FG attempt in transition but were fouled by the Bruins when scrapping for the loose ball. With 0.2 seconds left the Govs made their two free throws from the bonus to go up 86-84, essentially clinching the game.

8:55 (Postgame): The Bruins lost the game 84-86. Byrd's boys will quickly have an opportunity for redemption in the rivalry, which will be renewed before the end of the year in Clarksville (12/22/08). Renfroe and House each led the Bruins with 18 points. Wes Channels led all scorers with 25 points on five 3-pointers for APSU. Each team had their fair share of threes, BU with 10, APSU with nine. This is the last home game for a month as the Bruins prepare for a road trip that includes No. 5 Pittsburgh and the start of A-Sun Conference play.

Bruin fans, keep your heads up -- it's a long season. See you soon!