LOUISVILLE, Ky.--The No. 1 Bellarmine University men's basketball team is back at home this week after going on the road for their past three games.  On Thursday, the Knights welcome St. Joseph's College and on Saturday, the No. 22 Indianapolis Greyhounds will visit Knights Hall.

Bellarmine comes back home with a 2-game lead in the Great Lakes Valley Conference “East” standings, sporting an overall record of 20-1 and a league mark of 12-1.  Looking ahead to the conference tournament, the Knights are currently positioned to be the No. 1 overall seed, which would give them a first round bye into the quarterfinals.  The final three rounds of the GLVC Championship will be contested in Springfield, Ill., on March 2, 3 and 4.

The pair of games coming up this week is the “home” version of the road trip the Knights took in early December that resulted in Bellarmine's only loss of the season on Dec. 1 at Indianapolis.  Two days later, Bellarmine pulled out a tight 3-point win at St. Joseph's, which was the first of 15 wins in a row for the Knights.

On Thursday, the Knights-Pumas rematch will feature new looks for both teams.  St. Joseph's has obtained the services of Damon Ellison, Jr., a transfer from Florida Southern.  The 6-4 guard/forward is putting up 12.5 points a game for the Pumas and has started all eight games since becoming eligible.

Meanwhile, the Knights' 6-8 Richie Phares suffered a concussion shortly after the St. Joseph's game, and missed significant time.  In his absence, Bellarmine switched to a smaller lineup featuring essentially four guards.  Although Phares has since rejoined the team, Bellarmine remains using the smaller starting lineup.

St. Joseph's (7-14, 2-11) is led in scoring by Louisville native and Waggener High School alumnus Dayvon Sloan.  The 5-8 guard is putting up 14.1 points per game and is averaging 4.6 assists.

On Saturday, Bellarmine has the opportunity to exact revenge on the lone team in the country to own a victory over the Knights.  However, the Greyhounds (16-5, 9-4) have been “giant killers extraordinaire” this season.  They are 2-0 on the season against teams ranked No. 1 in the country as well as two victories over former top 10 Southern Indiana.

Like the Pumas, UIndy also will have bit of a different make-up from their first meeting with the Knights.  Mikel Brigham, who put up 15 points and 12 rebounds in the first game, has left the team, and UIndy  has added Leland Brown and Cody Vest to their roster since playing the Knights in December.

The Greyhounds are being led by 5-9 point guard Adrian Moss, who is averaging 19 points and 5.2 assists per game.  Moss is being helped along by Reece Cheatham, a former professional baseball player, who is enjoying life as a collegiate basketball player with a 14.3 ppg average.  Local fans may also notice former Manual High School standout Miles Mitchell as a starter for the Hounds. He's averaging 7.5 points.  

Bellarmine enters the St. Joseph's game with the second longest winning streak in Division II (West Liberty is riding a streak of 19 games), and they continue to lead the country in field goal percentage (56%).  The hallmark of the Bellarmine offense is a balanced attack with crisp passing.  All five Bellarmine starters are averaging in double figures, and the Knights are first in the conference (7th in the nation) with 18.9 assists per game.

Junior guard Jeremy Kendle continues to lead the Knights in scoring with an 18.9 points per game average, which is fourth in the GLVC.  The junior from Jeffersonville is just three points away from becoming the 10th leading scorer in Bellarmine history. 

Backcourt mate Braydon Hobbs, meanwhile, is setting new career marks throughout the Bellarmine record books.  He entered the season as the BU career leader in steals, and since has topped the Bellarmine charts in 3-pointers and assists.  The New Albany senior currently is leading the conference in both assists (6.0 per game) and assist to turnover ratio (3:1) and ranks among the nation's top 11 in both categories.

Bellarmine junior Chris Dowe also has been making big contributions this season.  The GLVC ranks players in 13 different statistical categories, and Dowe ranks in the top 15 in eight of those including scoring, rebounding and blocked shots.

Both games this week are scheduled to tip at 8 p.m. as the second half of a doubleheader with the women's team.  All of the men's action can be heard on WGTK AM-970 with the call by Nick Curran and Mark Bugg.  Streaming video also is available through America One on a pay per view basis.  The games also will be available on Bellarmine student radio at www.bellarmineradio.com.