LOUISVILLE, Ky. –The No. 12 Bellarmine University Knights gutted out a hard fought 75-71 victory over the Lewis Flyers in Great Lakes Valley Conference action this afternoon in Knights Hall.

The Knights (12-2, 4-2 GLVC) got big contributions from up and down the lineup as five Bellarmine players posted double figures scoring including a career-high 13 points from freshman George Suggs.  Vance Hall and Jake Thelen shared team-high scoring honors with 16.

“This was as hard a fought win as you're ever going to be a part of,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. “That was a heck of a college basketball game.”

The visiting Flyers (9-5, 3-3)  sprinted out to a 7-0 lead to start the game and shot 59.1 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes to take a 32-27 lead into halftime.  Bellarmine, who came in as the best shooting team in the league, struggled in the opening 20 minutes and made just 10 of 25 from the field as they trailed the entire period.

After playing the first five minutes of the second half essentially even, Bellarmine finally found some momentum and took their first lead of the game on a Suggs 3-pointer at the 10:39 mark.  The two GLVC East Division foes went toe-to-toe from that point on with six ties and eight more lead changes.

Bellarmine took the lead for good at the 1:53 mark when Suggs drained another trey off a called play and an assist by Chris Dowe.

After a missed 3-pointer by Lewis, Keisten Jones swished a jumper from just inside the top of the key to put the Knights ahead 69-66 with just 1:17 remaining. 

Lewis answered as Ryan Jackson, last year's GLVC Freshman of the Year, converted on a challenged layup with 55 ticks left on the clock. 

Vance Hall connected on a pair free throws to extend the lead back to three with 42 seconds remaining, and the Knights came up with a big stop on the ensuing possession as Jones elevated to block a short jumper by Jackson and Jelani Johnson collected the rebound.

Lewis did have one last gasp of hope as David Bryant, who led all scorers with 29 points, connected on his fourth three pointer of the day to get the Flyers to within 73-71 with exactly three seconds showing on the clock.  Hall was fouled on the inbounds play, and calmly drained a pair of charity tosses to ice the game for the Knights.

In a reversal of the first half, the Knights shot 59.1 percent in the closing period and held the Flyers to just 40 percent. For the game, Lewis held a slight edge in shooting (48.9% to 46.8%), but Bellarmine won the battle of the boards 28-24 and sank 24 of 28 free throws.

“I asked the team in the locker room to give me three reasons we won the game,” Davenport said, “and they said it was free throws, eliminating offensive rebounds, and reversing the shooting in the second half.”

“I would agree with that,” Davenport added.

Davenport also made a point to single out Johnson for his contributions in the game.  “The one message from this game is the leadership of Jelani Johnson,” he said. “It was the best we've had this entire season hands down, no 'ifs' 'ands' or 'buts.' He willed our basketball team in.”

Johnson, a senior from Aurora, Ill., finished the game with six points and six rebounds—including two big defensive rebounds in the game's final 30 seconds. 

Other top performers for the Knights included Dowe with 11 points and a game-high seven rebounds and Jones with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. 

The Knights get little time to rest with a road trip to Lebanon, Ill., to take on McKendree on Monday.  Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. (CST)/8:30 p.m. (EST).

 BOX SCORE (HTM)