LIVE STATS | FREE LIVE WEBCAST | LIVE AUDIO | Game NotesNASHVILLE, Tenn. – The top two teams in the Ohio Valley Conference East Division will meet when Eastern Kentucky plays at Belmont on Thursday.
The game will start at 8 p.m. ET. The live radio broadcast is available in the Richmond area on WCYO 100.7 FM, and can be heard worldwide on EKUSports.com. A live free video broadcast is available on OVCDigitalNetwork.com.
The Colonels (16-9, 8-4 OVC) have won five in a row and have shot 50 percent or better in each of its last four games. Eastern has a half game lead over the Bruins (16-10, 8-5 OVC) for the lead in the East Division.
When these two teams met two weeks ago in Richmond, Eastern Kentucky took control of the game with a 15-4 spurt in the second half on its way to a 81-69 victory. The Bruins opened the second half with 10 straight points to close within one, 40-39. It took three minutes for the Colonels to score their first points of the half, but once
Eric Stutz got it started with a lay-up EKU scored 15 of the next 19 to build a 12-point advantage.
EKU essentially put the game away by extending its run to 21-7 to go in front by 15 with 9:39 remaining. Belmont got as close as six with just over four minutes to go. Stutz made 10-of-11 from the field, including 2-of-3 from three-point range, to finish with a career-best 27 points.
Corey Walden finished with 15 points, eight assists, five rebounds and three steals.
Taylor Barnette and Reece Chamberlain scored 14 points each for the Bruins. Evan Bradds had 11 points and 12 rebounds. EKU shot 62 percent in the second half and 57 percent for the game. The Bruins made 53 percent of their shots but turned the ball over nine more times. Eastern out-scored BU 32-10 off turnovers.
Eastern is second in the OVC in scoring defense (63.3 ppg). Belmont is 11th in scoring defense (70.9 ppg).
This is the ninth meeting between the two teams and the seventh as OVC rivals. The series is tied 4-4, and EKU has won three of the last four meetings.
