LOUISVILLE, Ky.--The No. 2 Bellarmine University men's basketball team got career scoring performances from Luke Sprague and Justin Benedetti as the Knights broke open a close game in the second half and cruised to a 100-74 victory over Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Illinois-Springfield in Knights Hall tonight.

Bellarmine improves to 18-1 on the season and remains perfect in conference play with an 11-0 mark.  Illinois-Springfield falls to 6-13, 2-10 GLVC.

Benedetti tied his career high with 27 points and Sprague set a new career mark with 23 to lead the Knights.  Junior Braydon Hobbs turned in another all around solid performance, just missing a triple double with 12 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds.

After trading buckets in the opening minutes, Bellarmine took the lead for good with 17:40 in the first half.  However, the Prairie Stars didn't go quietly.  After the Knights took a 43-35 lead into halftime, UIS came back to cut it to just a deuce with 17:49 remaining. 

The Knights answered the challenge as Benedetti caught fire and scored 20 of his 27 points in the second period. Bellarmine re-established a double digit lead, then outscored the visitors 20-4 in the final 5:25 to record the lopsided victory.

"This was a good win," said Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport. "We had 24 assists and just eight turnovers.  That's tremendous, but we just need to shoot free throws better and rebound better."

The Knights' 24 assists were a season high, but Bellarmine hit just 20 of 29 free throws and surrendered 19 offensive rebounds.  

As a team, Bellarmine may have been a bit rusty after not playing in a week.  "I think the week off was really beneficial," Davenport said, "but we just weren't game sharp tonight."

Bellarmine, which leads the GLVC in shooting percent, continued to shoot the ball well, finishing with a 54.8 shooting percentage, including 12 of 25 3-point shooting. Despite giving up the 19 offensive rebounds, Bellarmine still outrebounded the Prairie Stars 43-38 for the game.

Illinois-Springfield was led by the hot-shooting Lester Hart, who made five of seven 3-point tries on his way to 20 points.  Michael Fakuade, the GLVC leader in rebounding and blocked shots, turned a 16-point, 7-rebound performance before fouling out.

The Knights are back in action Saturday afternoon as they host Quincy University at 4:15 p.m. in Knights Hall.

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