LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 2 Bellarmine University Knights showed their defensive prowess tonight in turning back a solid Lewis Flyers team by the final count of 84-56 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest in Knights Hall.
After a slow-starting first half, the Knights finally got on track and pulled out to a 29-16 halftime lead as they held the guests to just 31.6 percent shooting and forced 13 first half turnovers.
In the second period, Bellarmine ramped up the offense that has become their calling card and put up 55 points en route to their 28-point victory.
One of the highlights of the second period came at the 13:17 mark when
Luke Sprague nailed a three pointer from just left of the top of the key to record career points 1000, 1001, and 1002.
“I'm very proud of this performance tonight,” said Bellarmine Coach
Scott Davenport. “That team is a very good basketball team. You watch them on film, and it's frightening. (No. 1) Kentucky Wesleyan beats them on an unbelievable 3-point shot at the buzzer; (No. 7) Southern Indiana beats them on the last play of the game; and they dominate (No. 14) Hillsdale.”
Chris Dowe led the way offensively with an impressive stat line that included 19 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, and
Braydon Hobbs showed off his shooting skills from long range making a season-high five treys on just six attempts.
Once again the Bellarmine team shot lights-out hitting 29 of 49 shots for 59.2 percent and converted 13 of 22 3-pointers for 59.1 percent.
For the game, the Knights held the Flyers to 43.2 percent shooting and forced 21 Lewis turnovers. Bellarmine also posted the largest margin in a Lewis loss this season. Of the four losses the Flyers had coming in, none had been by double digits, so the 28-point victory margin was a bit of a surprise.
With the win, Bellarmine improves to 15-1, 7-1 in GLVC play. The Flyers fall to 11-5, 3-5.
Next up for the Knights is a 3:15 p.m. GLVC matchup with Wisconsin-Parkside. Davenport made a plea on his postgame radio show to fill Knights Hall for the Saturday afternoon game. “There are no conflicts with other college games and there are no football playoffs, so there's no excuse,” Davenport said. “These players deserve it, so let's put a rear end in every seat.”
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