Steve Harris led the charge for APSU with a career high 20 points as APSU basketball fell back to 0.500 on the season. The Govs lost their second game in a row as their return to the state’s capital resulted in an 83-59 win for the Ohio Valley Conference’s top-ranked Belmont Bruins (15-6; 7-1 OVC).
Harris went 7-of-15 in his start while being the only Gov to his double figures.
Traditional starter freshman Dayton Gumm was out with an illness. This marked the first time in 15 games that the Govs altered their starting five.
Harris, a junior, spent 37 minutes of the game on the court while going 6-of-9 behind the free-throw-line.
Terry Taylor was second for the Govs in scoring with nine while Chris Porter-Bunton, Averyl Ugba and Ivan Cucak all evened out at six points each.
Cucak recorded a season high from the floor on his 20th birthday in front of family making the trip from Canada to Nashville.
Taylor’s night ended an 11-game streak of double figures.
Taylor also recorded a major block midway through the second half. The block would be the only denial of the game for both squads.
At the midpoint of the game the Govs found themselves down 31-26, despite seldomly holding the lead on a couple of first half occasions.
Adding to the offensive woes for APSU, the team only turned out five assists, a season low in the category.
The Bruins’ Dylan Windler buried two 3-pointers 70 seconds into the second half, beginning Belmont’s process of opening up the game. The Bruins finished 14-for-24 from behind the arc, with nine of those efforts adding to the second half separation.
Mathematically, the Bruins scored over half their points from behind the three-point-line while the Govs went 1-from-10 from the arc.
In addition to losing on the scoreboard, the Govs lost the rebound game as well. Belmont found 34 rebounds to edge out APSU’s 30, and end a nine game rebound game winning streak for the visitors in grey and red.
Windler lead the floor with 31 points on the evening, going 11-for-16. Kevin McClain, Nick Hopkins, Amanze Egekeze and Mack Mercer all finished with 10 points or more, combining for 45 of Belmont’s 83 points.
The Govs close out a rough 1-3 road trip as they return to the Dunn Center on Thursday, Jan. 25 for Coming Home. APSU (10-10, 5-3 OVC) will host Eastern Kentucky (8-13, 2-6 OVC). Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., following the women’s game.
