LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 1 Bellarmine University Knights clinched the regular season championship of the Great Lakes Valley Conference tonight with a 78-61 win over the No. 12 Kentucky Wesleyan Panthers tonight before a packed Knights Hall crowd.
The game also was senior night as Bellarmine honored Braydon Hobbs, Luke Sprague and Aaron Robison before they played in their final regular season game in Knights Hall. Hobbs and Sprague, who are 4-year players, ran their Knights Hall record to 50-3 with the victory tonight.
“What a special night,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport after the game. “This was an amazing, amazing atmosphere tonight. It will give these seniors a special memory for a lifetime.”
Davenport added that the night also was special because the 2012 edition of the Knights accomplished their first goal of the season. “We started way back in August with individual instruction, and the first tangible goal is the regular season GLVC championship, and we checked that off tonight.”
Winning that championship was in doubt for about three-fourths of the game as the top two-ranked teams in the Midwest Region battled back and forth with neither team holding more than a 5-point lead.
After KWC's Anthony Young hit one of the two free throws to give the Panthers a 1-point lead at the 16:18 mark of the second half, Bellarmine strung together an 8-0 run that turned a 1-point deficit into a 45-38 lead for the Knights.
During the run, a thunderous dunk by Chris Dowe brought down the house and prompted a quick timeout from Kentucky Wesleyan even though a media timeout was due at the next dead ball.
The margin stayed near seven points for next five minutes, but the tough Bellarmine defense finally started paying dividends as Bellarmine extended its lead to as many as 21 as they outscored KWC 24-9 from the 10:40 to the 1:44 mark.
Despite shooting a season-low 41.7 percent, Bellarmine dominated the game through an outstanding defensive effort that held the Panthers to just 32 percent shooting in the second half. The long arms of Hobbs played a key role in the defense as the All-American set a new career high with six steals on the night.
Although KWC's Young led all scorers with 21 points, the Knights had another well-balanced attack with five double-digit scorers. Sprague led the way for BU with 18 points, and Dowe posted a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jeremy Kendle also had a big night with 16 points, seven rebounds, eight assists and just one turnover.
Bellarmine improves to 23-2 with a 15-2 mark with just one regular season game remaining—a Thursday night game at Northern Kentucky. The Panthers fall to 19-6, 11-6 GLVC and are tied for fourth in the GLVC East.
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