SUNDAY'S SCORES
@Tennessee State 87, Belmont 72
TENNESSEE STATE 87, BELMONT 72
NASHVILLE - Keron DeShields scored a game-high 25 points to lead the Tennessee State men’s basketball team to an 87-72 victory over Belmont on Sunday afternoon at the Gentry Center in the regular season finale. With the victory, TSU ties its Division I record for wins in a season with 20 and clinches a first round bye in the upcoming Ohio Valley Conference Tournament as the fourth seed.
TSU (20-9, 11-5 OVC) picked up its third 20-win season at the Division I level, matching the total put up by the Tigers in 1978-79 and 2011-12. On the day, TSU held a 39-38 halftime edge and pulled away by outscoring Belmont (20-10, 12-4 OVC) by a 48-37 margin in the second half. It was TSU’s first win over Belmont since Feb. 14, 2013.
The victory also improves TSU to 11-2 at home, tying the school record for wins in a season at the Gentry Center, which was built prior to the 1980-81 season.
The game served as Senior Day, where TSU honored DeShields, Christian Griggs-Williams, Demontez Loman, Xavier Richards and Marcus Roper prior to the game.
DeShields was joined in double figures by Tahjere McCall with 17, while Wayne Martin added 13 points and Loman tallied 10 points and eight rebounds.
After TSU scored the first four points on Sunday, Belmont quickly bounced back with 13 points in a row for an early lead.
TSU forced four turnovers as part of a 15-6 run that put the Tigers down just one at 22-21 with eight minutes left in the opening half.
The Tigers tied the game at 27-27 on an offensive rebound and layup by DeShields with six minutes left. After forcing a turnover, Loman’s jumper gave the home team a 29-27 edge. TSU held on to a one-point advantage at 39-38 at the half after forcing 16 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Loman finished back-to-back layups for a 52-45 lead with 13:29 showing on the second-half clock to cap an 8-0 run.
Martin’s transition layup gave the Tigers their first double-digit lead at 71-60 with just under five minutes left, and TSU never looked back. Belmont would close the gap to nine points at 78-69 with 2:17 remaining, but the Tigers went on a 9-1 run to put the game out of reach. TSU outrebounded Belmont, 33-27 and shot 53.6 percent from the field. For the Bruins, Austin Luke led the offense with 18 points and six assists.
The Tigers were able to force 26 turnovers on the day.