Belmont boxscore in PDF

Playing back-to-back exhibition games against Division I teams, Maryville men’s basketball dropped an 88-49 decision at Belmont Tuesday night in Nashville, Tenn. The Bruins, the Atlantic Sun Conference champion, had a big run bridge from the end of the first half into the second to pull away.
 
Asa Toney scored on a layup to get the Saints on the scoreboard. Darrin Young Jr. hit two free throws to cut Maryville’s deficit to 8-4. The Bruins scored eight straight points to build a double-digit lead before the Saints roared back. Toney scored in traffic and Myles Jerrett followed with a jumper. Toney hit a 3-pointer to pull Maryville to within 17-14 with seven minutes to play in the first half.
 
Belmont maintained its margin at eight points before Max Mischkulnig hit a layup and Trae Pemberton sank a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 22-19. Down five, Gerald Shaw sank two free throws to draw the Saints to 29-26 with 3:29 left before intermission. The Bruins went on a 14-4 run to take a 43-30 lead, its largest margin, at halftime. The Saints hit five 3-pointers but was hurt by 12 turnovers.
 
Belmont carried over its strong end of the first into the second and went on an 11-2 run over the first four minutes to take its first 20-point lead. The Bruins were hot from beyond the arc and converted 14-of-20 from 3-point range. The Saints took (22) and made (15) more free throws than Belmont.
 
Shaw led the Saints with 12 points, hitting two 3-pointers and hit six free throws. Pemberton also hit a pair of treys and  finished with 11 for Maryville. Mischkulnig led the Saints on the boards with six rebounds. For Belmont (2-0), Ian Clark and Kerron Johnson and led the way with a combined 34 points as the duo shot 11-of-16 from the field.
 
The Saints (2-0) take a break and are next in action when they trail to Hawai’ii to play in a tournament hosted by the University of Hawai’i-Hilo Monday, Nov. 19.