LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 1 Bellarmine University men's basketball team fell behind in the early going, before rolling to a 67-53 victory over No. 8 Southern Indiana tonight in a Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup in sold out Knights Hall.
After committing a flurry of turnovers over the first several minutes, the Knights fell behind 14-7 just 6:01 into the contest. Bellarmine was able to adjust to the speed of the game and reeled off 13 unanswered points to pull ahead 20-14 and never trail again.
The first half comeback was punctuated with highlight reel play with a minute and a half remaining.
Braydon Hobbs got a steal then sent it ahead to
Jeremy Kendle, who fed
Keisten Jones with a lob, and the sophomore from Ballard threw down a monstrous one-handed dunk to bring the sellout crowd to its feet.
In the second period, Bellarmine quickly established a 13-point lead, but the Screaming Eagles were able to slice the margin to just three at 42-39 at the 12:34 mark. The Knights answered with a 16-0 run to put the game away.
The Knights again got a balanced attack as all five starters reached double figures, led by Kendle's 16 points. Hobbs turned in another double-double with 11 points and 10 assists.
The Screaming Eagles were led by Lawrence Thomas with 13 points, and Brandon Hogg chipped in 10 as the only USI double-digit scorers.
“Our ability to battle on the backboard against a tremendous rebounding team was big factor tonight,” said Bellarmine Coach
Scott Davenport. “And to shoot 50 percent against that team speaks volumes. They were number eight in the nation in field goal defense and number one in our league, so it was a great night for us.”
Coach Davenport also paid tribute to the sellout crowd. “On behalf of the team, thanks to the student body and the fans who came out on this stormy, rainy night to make such an incredible environment,” he said. “Not only do these players deserve it, but it also helps recruiting.”
Bellarmine finished the night hitting 25 of 50 field goals including 10 of 22 from downtown. After a hot start, the Screaming Eagles cooled to just 42 percent shooting for the game.
Southern Indiana, the top rebounding team in the conference, held a 31-25 advantage on the backboards.
Bellarmine put up an outstanding defensive effort posting seven blocked shots (four by
Chris Dowe), and forcing 19 USI turnovers.
The win was Bellarmine's 12th in a row and gets the Knights to 17-1 on the season with a 9-1 league mark. USI falls to 15-3, 7-3.
Bellarmine maintains a game lead in the GLVC East division over Kentucky Wesleyan, who defeated Northern Kentucky tonight to move to 16-2, 8-2. Indianapolis, who also was tied for second going into tonight, fell in overtime at Lewis to fall to 7-3 in the league to drop into a tie with NKU for fourth place.
The wins by Bellarmine and KWC set up a huge game on Saturday in Owensboro's Sportscenter when the No. 1 Knights face off against the No. 7 Panthers. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CST (8:30 EST).
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