LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine University men's basketball team rode behind 20-point games by Luke Sprague and Jeremy Kendle to advance in the quarterfinals of the 2010 Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament with a convincing 76-60 victory over Quincy University on Sunday afternoon at Knights Hall.
With the win, Bellarmine advances to Saturday's semifinal game, to be played at the University of Illinois-Springfield. Bellarmine's opponent will be Drury, the No. 1 seed from the West, who defeated Lewis 82-63 today. Game time is scheduled for 9:30 p.m.
In securing their 20th win of the season, Bellarmine (20-8) has now notched back to back 20-win seasons for the first time in school history (last year's team finished 26-7).
The Knights also avenged a 73-68 loss at Quincy on Jan. 28 with today's victory.
“People ask me if we learned from our loss earlier,” Bellarmine Head Coach Scott Davenport said. “We want to learn at all times, and when we can learn from a win, that's great.”
The Knights started the game on fire, scoring 13 of the game's first 15 points, and never looked back, leading by as many as 23 points in the second half.
Braydon Hobbs led all players with six assists, while Sprague took the team rebounding honors with five. Justin Benedetti was the other Bellarmine player to score in double figures, tallying 14 and three assists.
Quincy (21-8) outrebounded Bellarmine 26-22, funneled by Justin Brock and Courtney Belger, who had six boards apiece. Mookie Pierre led the Hawks in scoring and assists with 11 and three, respectively.
The Knights currently stand at No. 7 in this week's NCAA Division II Regional Rankings, while Quincy entered the weekend at No. 5. The rankings play a predominant role in determining which eight teams receive a berth to the NCAA Tournament in two weeks.
“We had two goals from the start of the season: reach the final four of the GLVC Tournament, and be in the top eight of the regional rankings,” Davenport said. “We have three players that have never been to the NCAA Tournament and are excited to get there, while we have 11 players that are hungry to get back.”
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