NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It was a tale of two halves for SIUE men's basketball Wednesday night in a 73-43 loss to Belmont at Curb Event Center.

SIUE, now 9-17 overall and 5-10 in the Ohio Valley Conference, shot 47.8 percent (11-23) in the first half, but then converted just four of 22 second half field goal attempts (18.2 percent). The Cougars scored just 15 second half points.

"Belmont is a very good team," SIUE Head Coach Lennox Forrester said. "They are good defensively and offensively and they proved it tonight.

"We did a terrible job of finishing around the basket in the second half," Forrester continued. "We had plenty of chances but we just came away with nothing."

Belmont started strong, hitting 13 of its first 16 attempts from the floor, and improved to 23-6 with the win. The Bruins won at least a share of the league's regular season title and earned the No. 1 seed in next week's OVC Tournament with the victory.

"There are a lot of things we can take from this game. I'm not sure we have to look at the tape to learn them," Forrester said. "We can learn how hard you have to play and how physical you have to be to be in the position Belmont is in tonight (winning a championship). That's what we're trying to build toward."

The Bruins led 28-9 with 10:34 to play before halftime when the Cougars made a push. SIUE outscored Belmont 19-11 to end the half and trailed 39-28 at the break.

Belmont's Blake Jenkins drained a pair of free throws to open the second half to make it 41-28. A Kris Davis layup, a turnover by Belmont, and a Tim Johnson three-pointer got the Cougars right back in the game at 41-33. The eight-point deficit is as close as the Cougars would get.

Belmont followed with a 22-2 run over the next 10 minutes to put the game away.

Belmont shot 50.9 percent (27-53) for the game. Jenkins scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Bruins. Ian Clark added 14 points. Trevor Noak (13) and JJ Mann (11) also scored in double figures.

Davis scored 19 to lead all scorers. Davis was 6 for 13 from the field and 3 for 7 from three-point range. Johnson was the only other SIUE player in double figures. He scored 13. Johnson was 5 for 8 including going 3 for 3 from three-point range.

The Bruins outrebounded SIUE 39-24 and held a 30-8 advantage in points in the paint.  

SIUE is tied with Eastern Illinois for third in the OVC West Division. The Cougars travel to Charleston, Ill. Saturday to finish the regular season with the Panthers. A win by either team would clinch a spot for that team in the OVC Tournament.

"It's been the same thing all year long. When you lose a game, you have to get ready for the next one," Forrester said. "We got beat up pretty well tonight. We have to move on and look forward to playing Eastern Illinois on Saturday to try to get into the OVC Tournament."

The Cougars and Panthers tip at 4 p.m. Saturday. The game is the first of a doubleheader. The women's teams will meet later in the evening.