Sheppard puts up 22, Belmont defeats Northern Iowa 76-72

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Ben Sheppard had 22 points in Belmont’s 76-72 win over Northern Iowa on Saturday night.

Sheppard was 6 of 10 shooting, including 4 for 6 from distance, and went 6 for 7 from the line for the Bruins (13-6, 6-2 Missouri Valley Conference). Drew Friberg scored 15 points while going 6 of 12 (3 for 9 from distance), and added six rebounds. Ja’Kobi Gillespie finished 6 of 8 from the field to finish with 14 points.

Trey Campbell finished with 16 points and two steals for the Panthers (9-9, 5-3). Michael Duax added 12 points for Northern Iowa. Tytan Anderson also had 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals.

Belmont went into the half leading Northern Iowa 44-31. Sheppard scored 12 points in the half. Belmont turned an eight-point second-half lead into a 15-point advantage with a 7-0 run to make it a 51-36 lead with 14:55 left in the half. Sheppard scored 10 second-half points in the win.

NEXT UP

Belmont’s next game is Tuesday against Murray State at home, while Northern Iowa hosts Illinois State on Wednesday.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.