Belmont Bruins Know How to Grind

Bruins’ Winning Culture

(St. Louis, MO) – Belmont basketball is known for winning conference titles, shooting threes, crafting 20-win seasons and high academic standards. What people don’t understand is that winning culture comes when players know how to grind when things get hard.

Good teams find a way to win when they aren’t playing well and the Bruins know how to grind. Tuesday in St. Louis, is the latest example of that winning culture and ability to prevail during an ‘off night’.

Belmont got off to a terrible 8-0 start that grew even worse to an 18-3 deficit to a good Saint Louis University team (7-3). With several air balls mixed in to the start the Bruins kept fighting. A team with a long distance reputation, made just four of 16 first half attempts, with three of them coming in the waning minutes of the opening stanza.

Nick Muszynski was just ‘off’ early and looked sluggish. Sophomore Frank Jakubicek picked up some extended playing time, while ‘Moose’ tried to figure things out. Those late threes helped Belmont cut the half-time lead to 32-26.

Murphy & Others Know How to Grind

Defense and determination kept them in the game. Coach Casey Alexander kept the grinding out offensive possessions and tenacity on the defensive end. Preseason OVC ‘Player of the Year’ Grayson Murphy simply wouldn’t let his team quit.

While his free-throws with two-seconds left iced the game, it was a typical ‘Murphy Game’ that sparked the Bruins to the 64-59 road win. The 6’3 grad student scored 14 points, grabbed eight rebounds and handed out nine assists. Add in three steals and a blocked shot and you now know the definition of a ‘Murphy Game’.

Murphy says the team came out sluggish, but playing great defense made the difference against the Atlantic Ten Conference Billikens.

 

 

Alexander was unhappy with the early play of his very talented Belmont team. He said it was a ‘bad news’ and ‘good news’ story. They figured out how to beat a good team on the road.

 

 

Know How to Grind

As the game went back and forth during the pivotal second half there was on stretch where the Bruins had finally cut the deficit to one point and then Saint Louis received a thunderous Jordan Nesbitt dunk and while the crowd was still screaming, the Billikens got a stop on the defensive end and a Gibson Jimerson triple created an immediate five-point swing and the lead was back to the half-time margin of six points.

Nine minutes of hard work, seemed down the drain. It was one of those crucial moments in a game when one team runs away with the victory as the other one folds. But when players know how to grind, they stay in the moment and can prevail.

With Chaifetz Arena still buzzing, freshman Will Richard got into the lane and hit an eight-foot jumper that somehow settled down the situation. After a Murphy defensive rebound, the Richard made a lay-up.

The Belmont defense then won the game. Trailing 49-47 with 10:19 to go, they allowed Saint Louis just THREE field goals and ten points the rest of the way.

After a dreadful offensive start ‘Moose’ and Murphy combined to score 16 of the team’s final 17 points. Those grad students know how to grind.

What’s Next for Belmont?

Despite coming up with a big road win, Alexander was not pleased after the game. The team has some time off before their next game with Chattanooga. The Mocs are 29^th in the latest NET rankings and will not be an easy opponent.

Alexander says the Bruins will learn from this game and he’s glad they are learning lessons from a win rather than a loss.

 

 

At 8-3 with another potential Quadrant One game on the horizon, all the Belmont goals are within reach. Coming into the Saint Louis contest (also a Quad One game) the Bruins were 43^rd in the NET. The Chattanooga game is huge.

If Alexander’s squad can be 10-3 heading into OVC play, postseason opportunities are very well within reach. BU opens OVC play on the road at an improved Southern Illinois Edwardsville and have a short turn-around and play at Eastern Illinois.

This Bruin team has the look of one that will know how to grind its way to an NCAA Tournament bid.

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