Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 12 Bellarmine University Knights ran out to a 19-point first half lead then held off a comeback bid to pull off a 65-58 wire-to-wire win over the Wisconsin-Parkside Rangers in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Knights Hall on Thursday night.

The victory snapped a two-game skid for the Knights (11-3, 3-2 GLVC) while giving Parkside (9-4, 4-1 GLVC) their first loss in conference play.

“This was a must win,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport in his postgame comments.  “They're number one in our division and if we lose this game we go three down to them in our division.   So it was a great win and a fabulous first half of basketball.”  

The Knights got a huge effort from senior Chris Dowe who poured in 21 points and dished out eight assists despite playing at less than 100 percent due to an injury suffered last week.
 
Perhaps even more impressive than Dowe's gritty effort was the job the Knights did defensively in limiting GLVC scoring leader Jeremy Saffold to just three points on one of six shooting.  The 6-6 forward came in averaging 21.4 points per contest.

“We did a phenomenal job on Jeremy Saffold,” said Davenport. “Going into the day he would have been (the leading contender for) player of the year in our league, and he doesn't score in the first half and gets three on the game.”

Dowe left little doubt how effective he would be early on by either delivering the assist or scoring on Bellarmine's first eight baskets as the Knights rolled out to a 16-6 lead over the first 7:15 of the game.

Bellarmine eventually extended the lead to 19 at the three minute mark before back to back 3-pointers by the Rangers' Bryant Smith trimmed the margin to six.  Keisten Jones tacked on a jumper to give the Knights a 35-20 halftime advantage.

After the break, Bellarmine held their lead over the first five minutes, and a Max Clemons layup gave the Knights a 45-28 lead at the 14:56 mark.  The Rangers slowly climbed back into contention by making seven of their next 11 shots and all four of their free throws as the BU advantage shrank to 50-48 at the 6:47 mark.

The Knights dug in, however, and although a Conrad Krutwig trey got the Rangers within one at 59-58, Bellarmine finished the game on a 6-0 run to seal the victory.

Down the stretch, Vance Hall came alive and scored seven of his 11 points in the final six minutes of the game, and Dowe proved clutch by going four for four from the line in the final 32 seconds.

Bellarmine again shot the ball well, going 26-50 for 52 percent.  The Knights came up big on the backboards, too, winning the rebounding battle 31-22 while allowing just five offensive boards. Hall and Jelani Johnson shared game-high rebounding honors with seven caroms, season highs for both.

One of the biggest contributions for the Knights came from Clemons, who got his first career start tonight and responded with an outstanding defensive effort on Saffold while picking up a pair of steals and a blocked shot.    

Krutwig led the Rangers in scoring and rebounding with 18 and six, while big man Zygimantas (Ziggy) Riauka dished out five assists for UWP.

Bellarmine's next action comes Saturday afternoon when they face the Lewis Flyers, who come in 9-4, 3-2 GLVC after dispatching McKendree this evening 82-61.  Tip is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.

BOX SCORE (HTM)