Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 5 Bellarmine University Knights slammed the visiting University of Cincinnati-Clermont Cougars 90-57 tonight in the second game of the Fern Valley Hotel Classic at Knights Hall. 

The Knights remained unbeaten on the season and upped their record to 7-0 as they again showed a balanced scoring attack to secure the win.  Four Bellarmine players scored in double digits and 13 broke into the scoring column as no Knight played more than 23 minutes.  Junior guard Vance Hall paced the winners with 16 points while fellow starters Chris Dowe and Jake Thelen chipped in with 12 and 11 points respectively. 

Freshman George Suggs might have had the most complete night for Bellarmine, however.  The 6-9 St. Louis native had career highs with 12 points and six rebounds in just 14 minutes of action.

“It was a good night, in terms that we got to play a lot of people,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport.  While he expressed disappointment over the 18 turnovers his Knights committed, he added that Bellarmine was coming off a tough week of final exams.  “All in all it was a good night,” Davenport said.

Bellarmine led from wire to wire as Jelani Johnson controlled the opening tap, and Keisten Jones raced down court and knocked home a short jumper less than five seconds into the game.  The Knights extended the lead to as many as 20 before taking a 44-25 lead into halftime.

After the break, UC-Clermont whittled the lead down to just 12 over the first 3:06 of the second period, but a quick 7-0 burst by the Knights re-established the 19-point advantage at the 15:25 mark.  Bellarmine gradually built the lead to 33 with three and half minutes remaining, and then coasted home for the victory.

The Knights had another stellar night of passing and shooting with a season-high 25 assists leading to a shooting percentage of 55.4 for the game.

Bellarmine also controlled the backboards, pulling down 20 more rebounds (47-27) than the Cougars.

UC-Clermont (4-11) was led by freshman center Charles Doss, who tallied a game-high 20 points and hauled in 11 rebounds.

Prior to the game, Bellarmine honored last year's team with a ring ceremony to commemorate their second straight appearance in the Elite 8 and final four.

In the opening game of the Fern Valley Hotel Classic, unranked Nova Southeastern  pulled a stunning upset of the No. 7 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles.  After USI had led the entire second half, the Sharks got a put back basket with just two seconds remaining in the game to snatch the victory away from the Screaming Eagles.

Tomorrow, USI will face UC-Clermont in the opening game at 5 p.m. with the Knights and Sharks to follow at 7:30 p.m. 

Davenport said Nova Southeastern, who is coached by former Denny Crum assistant Gary Tuell, will be a tough opponent because they are a solid team that runs the Princeton offense.  He added a plea for Knights fans to come out and support the team.  “We're playing a team that just beat the No. 7 team in the country, and it's our last game for 19 days until the conference season starts.  Tickets will be available at Knights Hall, so please get here early and come out and support our team.”

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