LOUISVILLE, Ky.--The No. 2 Bellarmine University men's basketball team started slowly, but got on track early enough to cruise to a 72-52 victory over the Rockhurst Hawks in an opening round game of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship tonight at Knights Hall.
The Hawks jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead on a pair of 3-pointers by Blake Baird and Brandon McCann, which prompted Bellarmine Coach
Scott Davenport to call a 30-second timeout to calm down his troops.
The ploy worked as the Knights came right back and pulled even at 8-8 when
Braydon Hobbs hit an open
Chris Dowe for dunk at the 12:59 mark of the first half.
After trading buckets the next couple of possessions, Bellarmine started slowly pulling away, and when
Luke Sprague drained a trey as time expired in the first half, the Knights went into halftime with a 31-20 lead.
After the intermission, Bellarmine kept extending their lead with their largest margin being 26 on several occasions. In many respects the game was simply a microcosm of the Knights' first 26 games. Bellarmine shot the ball well, distributed the bell well and defended well.
The Knights connected on 54.9 percent of their shots, racked up 22 assists, and held the Hawks to just 32.8 percent shooting.
“I really liked the way we played tonight,” said Bellarmine Coach
Scott Davenport. “It's the first game of the postseason, so to be a little on edge at the beginning is okay. “
Bellarmine got a balanced scoring attack with GLVC Player of the Year
Jeremy Kendle leading the way with 15. Junior
Luke Sprague also had a strong game with 14 points, nine rebounds, and a season-high three steals.
Baird led the way for Rockhurst with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Bellarmine improves to 25-2 and moves on to the GLVC semifinals in St. Louis on March 5. The Knights will face the winner of the quarterfinal game between the Nos. 4 and 5 seeds, which are Northern Kentucky and Kentucky Wesleyan.
