Belmont pours in record 114 points to beat SIU-Edwardsville

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ben Sheppard and Luke Smith scored 18 points apiece and Belmont scored a program record for points defeating SIU-Edwardsville 114-62 on Saturday.

Belmont won its 13th consecutive game and is the lone unbeaten team in the Ohio Valley Conference after dispatching the Cougars, who entered the contest 2-0 after enduring a 33-day pause because of COVID-19 concerns.

Grayson Murphy added 14 points, Caleb Hollander scored 12 and JaCobi Wood had 11 for the Bruins. Belmont forced four turnovers in the first three minutes as 3-pointers from Smith and Sheppard sparked a 13-0 lead.

Sheppard hit 4 of 6 3-pointers as the Bruins made 17 from distance. Belmont set a season-high 29 assists and forced a season-high 24 turnovers.

Belmont dominated the first half and led 56-22 at the break, a season high.

Iziah James had 12 points off the bench for the Cougars (4-5, 2-1).

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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights, http://www.automatedinsights.com/ap, using data from STATS LLC, https://www.stats.com