Belmont shoots 52 percent from 3, beat Panthers

Coach+Jay+Spoonhour+talks+to+the+Panthers+during+a+timeout+in+Saturday+afternoons+75-66+loss+to+Belmont.

Sean Hastings

Coach Jay Spoonhour talks to the Panthers during a timeout in Saturday afternoon’s 75-66 loss to Belmont.

Sean Hastings, Sports Editor

To see how easy Belmont made it seem to hit three pointers, all you needed to see was Austin Luke’s fade away to right, where he slung the ball with nearly no form, sinking it anyway as the shot clock expired.

That three was one of his 3-3 shooting on the day, backing Dylan Windler’s three-point party where he sank 5-8, leading Belmont to a 75-66 win over the Eastern men’s basketball team at Lantz Arena.

“That’s a good team that also had some things bounce their way,” coach Jay Spoonhour said. “They were fortunate on some of those at the end of the clock. That’s the reality. They still have good players that can make those shots.”

He added that Belmont was able to make five shots at the end of the shot clock from three.

As strong as the Bruins shot the ball from deep, like Spoonhour said, it came down to them being good players. The Panthers contested nearly every three pointer the Bruins shot and hardly let open threes get by.

The Panthers came in off a bad loss to the Tennessee State Tigers, where Eastern struggled to make plays and had costly turnovers at the end of the game, as well as missed free throws.

Eastern stuck with the now, 5-1 Bruins, but despite the Panthers’ 37-point second half, Belmont’s three-point extravaganza was too much. The Bruins were 6-10 from deep in the second half.

“We kept our concentration real well, they just made some plays,” Spoonhour said. “We did a good job too, we just didn’t make as many.”

On a positive note, senior Montell Goodwin showed now signs of slowing down playing in his new role. With senior Terrell Lewis and junior D’Angelo Jackson still out with injuries, he has been running the offense. He put together his 10th-straight double figure scoring game.

He had a career-high 26 points to lead all scorers.

“I thought offensively in the second half, it was the best we’ve been in a long time in the second half,” Spoonhour said. “Never happy with a loss, but there’s stuff to build off on that one.”

Goodwin played 37 minutes and that is what Spoonhour has been asking him to do.

Spoonhour said he has been giving production each night, but they have to get more consistent play as a group.

*Read Monday’s edition of The Daily Eastern News for a full story to follow*

Sean Hastings can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]