EVANSVILLE, IND. - - Behind 29 points from senior Alex Renfroe (Hermitage, Tenn.), a career-high 15 points from freshman Jonny Rice (Naperville, Ill.), and a season-high 17 three-point field goals, Belmont Basketball defeated Evansville Wednesday night, 92-76, in the first round of the inaugural CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament.

The game marked Belmont’s fifth postseason appearance in the last six years. Yet, victory at the seasoned and tough-minded Purple Aces shaped up to be a tall order as Evansville entered the night with a 15-3 home record.

It was advertised as a meeting between two of the most electrifying offensive players at the mid major level – Belmont’s Alex Renfroe and Evansville’s Shy Ely. And each player more than lived up to advanced billing.

In fact, Ely scored five straight baskets in the first 3:41 of the game to give the hosts an early two point lead.

Trailing 12-11, and with senior Andy Wicke (Hendersonville, Tenn.) and sophomore Jon House (Guelph, Ont., Canada) in early foul trouble, the Bruins received one of top performances of the season off the bench in the form of Rice.

Eight quick points from Rice highlighted a 22-4 Bruin run as Belmont seized a 33-16 lead midway through the first half.

Rice’s energy and shooting touch proved contagious, as senior Matthew Dotson (Centerville, Tenn.) and junior Keaton Belcher (Butler, Ky.) followed suit from long range before an awestruck Evansville crowd.

Despite seeing his team strapped in foul trouble – Evansville worked its way into the bonus eight minutes into the half – Belmont head coach Rick Byrd went deep into his bench and found production at every turn.

When Renfroe found junior Mike Dejworek (Ulm, Germany) for a transition layin, the Bruin lead swelled to 21, 44-23, with 4:52 in the half.

After Evansville answered with a 9-0 run, Rice drilled a stepback baseline jumper while being fouled to stem the tide.

A Renfroe trey sent Belmont to the locker room up 14, 49-35.

After enduring some atypically cold shooting nights down the stretch of the regular season, the Bruins shot a sizzling 59 percent (19-for-32) from the field in the first half – including 9-for-17 from three-point range.

Renfroe had 18 points and six rebounds at the break, while Rice had 10 points.

Two quick triples from Dotson and Renfroe to open the second half extended the Bruin lead to 17, 55-38, with 18:05 left, before Evansville made its biggest push of the night.

Again working its way into the bonus less than eight minutes into the half, the Purple Aces rode Ely on a 13-3 run to get within 58-51 with 10:39 remaining.

With the vocal Roberts Stadium crowd imploring Evansville to carry on, Belmont stayed tough. A pick-and-pop three-pointer from Dotson and a short jumper from senior Shane Dansby (Pegram, Tenn.) stretched Belmont’s lead back to 12, 63-51, with 9:31 to go.

Evansville would get within eight once more, but the combination of tough defensive rebounding by freshman Mick Hedgepeth (Crossville, Ala.) and dead-eye Bruin shooting sealed the deal.

Rice, Dotson, and Renfroe each made three-pointers in a two minute span to carry Belmont to a 78-63 lead with 3:21 to go.

All told, Belmont shot 53 percent (31-for-59) from the field – including a season-best 17-for-35 from three-point distance. The Bruins’ 92 points tied a season-high (at Florida Gulf Coast Jan. 31, and the team recorded 23 assists on its 31 made field goals.

Renfroe was sensational, with 29 points – the most against Evansville this season – nine rebounds and five assists. Rice had a career-high 15 points, while Dotson added 14.

Dansby also went over 1,000 career points with his 13 on the night.

Ely led Evansville (17-14) with 28 points.

Belmont (20-12) secures the first postseason victory of its NCAA era and a fourth consecutive 20+ win season.

The Bruins advance to the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. They will play Monday, Mar. 23 on the road at either Old Dominion or The Citadel. Those two teams will face one another on Thursday in the final first round game.

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