JACKSONVILLE – The Belmont Bruins found the long-range shot early and often as the Ohio Valley Conference preseason favorite handed Jacksonville State a 64-41 home setback on Thursday night inside Pete Mathews Coliseum.
 
The Bruins (11-5, 4-1 OVC) hit their first three attempts from downtown for a quick 9-2 advantage over the Gamecocks who fell to 8-8 overall and 2-3 in conference play. It's the first time in 23 conference games that JSU finds itself with a sub .500 league record.
 
Belmont outscored JSU 36-0 from beyond the arc overall as JSU failed to connect on any of its nine three-pointer attempts, while BU finished the night 12-of-30. In the last 146 games dating back to January 4, 2014, the Gamecocks have failed to make a single trey only three times, with Belmont being the opposition in two of those contests.
 
JSU regrouped from BU's fast start to hold BU without a field goal for the final 6:27 of the opening quarter to pull within four at 12-8. The Bruins opened the second with another deep ball to go up by seven, and would stretch the lead to 10, at 24-14, heading into the half. Compared to its 12 treys, BU hit just 10 shots inside the arc.
 
Defensively, JSU shut down one of the hottest offenses across all mid-majors. Two of the OVC's top five leading scorers in Ellie Harmeyer and Darby Maggard were held to single digits. Harmeyer entered the game averaging 19.3 points per game and finished with just five, while Maggard's 18-point average was held in check to just eight.
 
On the offense, 11 of the 12 Gamecocks to play scored, but senior Rayven Pearson's eight points stood as a team-high. JuToreyia Willis added six, while Chloe Long had five points. A positive spark came from Kiana Johnson's 1-of-2 shooting in 18 minutes of action after the Decatur, Ga., native, had missed the previous nine games with a lower leg injury.
 
After Hawks cut the Bruin lead to eight with a basket early in the third, Belmont used a 12-3 run to grab a 17-point advantage midway through the period. The margin remained just under 20 for most of the remainder of the game, until BU continued its string of triples in the closing minutes of the fourth to claim the 64-41 win.
 
The road doesn't get any easier for JSU, after facing the preseason favorite the Gamecocks welcome the OVC-leading Tennessee Tech squad into The Pete on Saturday.