Belmont beats Eastern Kentucky 84-73, remains tied for first

Feb 16, 2018, 04:17 am

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Amanze Egekeze scored 19 points and had 10 rebounds, Austin Luke also scored 19 and Belmont defeated Eastern Kentucky 84-73 on Thursday night to remain in a first-place tie with Murrray State in the Ohio Valley Conference.

Kevin McClain added 15 points and Dylan Windler 13 for Belmont (21-7, 13-2), which shot 59 percent and made 14 of 31 from the arc. Luke sank three consecutive 3-pointers late, the final one making it 77-64 with 3:49 left.

Nick Mayo's one blocked shot gave him the EKU record of 116 in his career, surpassing Mike Smith (1987-92). Mayo scored 21 points, which sent him past the 1,500 career mark. JacQuess Hobbs, Dujuanta Weaver and Zach Charles scored 14 points each.

Belmont led 41-29 at halftime. EKU (9-19, 3-12) got within three at 47-44 with 16 minutes remaining with a 15-4 run but the Bruins scored the next seven points to lead by 10 and remained up by at least six thereafter.