Virginia Commonwealth 81, Belmont 68
Senior forward Juvonte Reddic had 18 points and 11 rebounds, leading visiting Virginia Commonwealth to a 81-68 victory over Belmont on Sunday at the Curb Event Center in Nashville, Tenn.
The Bruins' loss ended Belmont's 23-game home winning streak.
Reddic led four players who scored in double figures for Virginia Commonwealth (6-2). Junior guard Treveon Graham had 16 points and nine rebounds. Sophomore guard Melvin Johnson also scored 16 points.
Senior forward Blake Jenkins and senior swingman J.J. Mann scored 14 points apiece for Belmont (7-2), which had won six in a row. Senior forward Drew Windler had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Belmont enjoyed a strong start and led 9-2 less than two minutes into the contest. The Bruins went up 23-11 on a layup by Evan Bradds with12:23 to play in the opening half, but Virginia Commonwealth responded.
The Rams outscored the Bruins 20-8 over the next eight minutes to tie the game at 31-31 when Graham made three free throws with 4:42 to go. Belmont briefly regained the lead at 33-31 on another layup by Bradds, but Graham answered with a 3-pointer and made two free throws with five seconds left to send his team to the locker room with a 38-35 lead at the break.
Belmont battled back in the second half to take a 50-44 lead with 12:55 remaining, but Virginia Commonwealth bounced back again. Johnson and JeQuan Lewis made 3-pointers to spark an 11-0 run, putting the Rams up 55-50 with 10:13 to go. Johnson made another 3-pointer moments later as part of another 11-0 run, helping his team extend its lead to 66-52 with 7:03 to play.
The Bruins briefly cut the deficit to single digits when Mann made a 3-pointer with 4:55 to go, but the Rams stretched the lead to 15 on a dunk by Reddic.
