EVANSVILLE, Ind.--The No. 7 Bellarmine University men's basketball team got career performances from Jeremy Kendle and Chris Dowe to down Michigan Tech 79-66 tonight in the Bill Joergens Memorial Tournament hosted by the University of Southern Indiana.
Kendle tied a career high with 24 points on 11 of 13 shooting, and Dowe was a perfect five of five from the field as the freshman added 15 points to break double figures for the first time in his career.
"The key tonight was a quick turnaround, being able to digest a scouting report against a quality team and transfer that to the basketball court," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport, whose Knights were playing their second game in two days.
"It was a good night for us," Davenport added. "I thought the team passing was excellent, and it was a very unselfish Bellarmine team tonight. They really embraced the team concept tonight and not only at the offensive end of the court."
Bellarmine (4-1) held the Huskies to just 32 percent shooting in the first half as the Knights doubled up Michigan Tech for a 44-22 halftime lead. Bellarmine extended the lead to 31 at the 11:10 mark of the second half before the Huskies got hot from 3-point range, and the Knights committed more than half of their 12 turnovers in the last 10 minutes of the game.
For the second consecutive night, Bellarmine was short-handed as both Oladapo Fagbenle and Forrest Smallwood had to sit out with minor injuries. Despite the lack of personnel, Bellarmine spread the playing time as no Bellarmine player logged more than 27 minutes. In fact, Dowe and Kevin Allen both came off the bench to score in double figures as Kendle was the only starter to score more than eight points.
The Huskies (1-4) placed four players in double figures with Mike Hojnacki leading the way with 18 points, scoring 12 in the game's final five minutes.
Bellarmine now must prepare for a tough early conference test, as the Knights will travel back to Evansville to face Southern Indiana in the Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for both teams on Thursday, Dec. 3. Bellarmine then follows that up with their annual road trip to Kentucky Wesleyan on Dec. 5.
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