ST. LOUIS – Something had to give in Saturday afternoon's Great Lakes Valley Conference Men's Basketball Tournament semifinal at Moloney Arena, and the atmosphere let all 1,200 in attendance know that March Madness was in full effect.

The No. 2 ranked and top-seeded Bellarmine University Knights, GLVC regular season champions and the defending GLVC Tournament champions, outlasted and defeated the Kentucky Wesleyan College Panthers, 86-73, to advance to Sunday afternoon's 2 p.m. GLVC Championship game.

Jeremy Kendle scored a team-high 23 points, including shooting 10-10 from the line, as five Bellarmine players scored in double figures.  As a team, the Knights buried 35 of 40 free throw attempts, led by Chris Dowe's 12-13 effort at the stripe. 

The Knights (26-2) tied a school record with their 26th victory of the season.  The 2008-09 squad finished with a 26-7 record and were a finalist in the Midwest Regional Tournament.

Bellarmine will face No. 11 University of Southern Indiana (24-4) and seek the school's second consecutive GLVC Tournament Championship in its third straight appearance.  The Knights swept the Screaming Eagles during the regular season, including a 69-60 win on Dec. 4 in Evansville, and an 84-79 win on Feb. 17 in Knights Hall.

“This will be a matchup of not only the two best teams in the Midwest Region, but two of the best teams in the country,” Bellarmine Head Coach Scott Davenport said.

Bellarmine began a second half barrage with intensity.  Following a Nick Holmes layup off a no-look pass from Braydon Hobbs to begin the frame, the Knights connected on a trio of long-range attempts, including back-to-back launches by Luke Sprague, and gained a 41-36 edge.

A technical foul on the Kentucky Wesleyan bench with 11:41 remaining swung the momentum towards the Knights the rest of the game.  Kendle drilled both shots from the line, while Justin Benedetti made a layup from the left side to pull BU ahead 54-48.

The lead increased to as many as 17 points at 75-58 when Kendle scored on a put-back jumper with 4:05 to play.  

BU shot a season-low 44 percent from field, but outrebounded the Panthers 36-32 for the contest.  In the second half, the Knights recorded nine assists on 13 made field goals.

Kentucky Wesleyans's Cardell McFarland, who scored 47 points in the Panthers' 94-86 win at Knights Hall on Feb. 19, was held to 7-19 shooting, yet scored a game-high 25 points.  Chris Williams led KWC with six rebounds.

The Knights started the game with the signature fast-paced offense, including Benedetti connecting on an old-fashioned three-point play on BU's first possession, followed by a long-range three from Hobbs.

 The Panthers made their counter run in the middle of the half with a 15-3 run to take a 30-23 lead with 4:53 remaining.  The spurt included a Marseilles Stewart jumper from the right elbow that gave the Panthers their first lead of the game at the 6:53 mark. 

Bellarmine skimmed the margin by attacking the rim and connecting on five of six free throws the remainder of the period, and trailed 34-30 heading into halftime despite shooting only 9-27 (33 percent) from the field.