Box Score RENSSELAER, Ind.—Behind outstanding performances by seniors Chris Dowe and Jelani Johnson, the No. 8 Bellarmine Knights pulled away from the St. Joseph's Pumas in the late going for an 84-70 road victory in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Scharf Fieldhouse.

Dowe led all scorers with 22 and got his second straight double-double by adding 10 rebounds. Johnson posted career highs in points (13) and assists (7) to help the Knights pull away in the final nine minutes.

The first half was a game of runs early on with Bellarmine (14-2, 6-2 GLVC)  opening the contest with a 7-0 run.  The Pumas (4-11, 2-6 GLVC) came back to tie it with a 7-0 run of their own, but the Knights 3-point shooting helped the visitors pull away and led 45-30 at the break as BU hit nine of 15 treys.

Coming out of halftime, the home team began slicing into the Bellarmine lead, and Louisville native Dayvon Sloan's two free throws at the 11:34 mark trimmed the Knights advantage to just three at 53-50.

Bellarmine's defense stiffened, and the Knights answered the St. Joseph's comeback bid and re-established a 10-point lead with Johnson's two free throws at the 7:52 mark.  The Pumas never seriously threatened the rest of the way.

“The hardest thing to do in college athletics is to win on the road,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport, “and this is a particularly hard place to play.  We played with tremendous poise tonight, and that's what it takes on the road.”   

Davenport applauded the effort of his two seniors when the game was on the line.  “(The lead) gets to three, and we did a tremendous job defensively, and we did a tremendous job of finding each other.  Jelani Johnson came up huge and Chris (Dowe) came up big.” 

Both teams shot exactly 50 percent for the game, each going 26-52 from the field.  The Knights finished with 13 triples on the game while limiting the Pumas to just six. Bellarmine also owned a 19-12 advantage from the free throw line. 

Bellarmine junior Vance Hall was right on his season's scoring average with 16 points despite playing just 22 minutes due to foul trouble.  Keisten Jones continued his solid play off the bench for the Knights with 14 points and four rebounds.

St. Joseph's was led by Corey Clifton with 18 points on six of nine shooting including four of seven from long range.  Sloan, the Pumas leading scorer on the season, was hampered with foul trouble most of the game, but added 11 points.  Damon Ellison, Jr., helped pick up the slack for Sloan by coming off the bench and totaling 17 points.

The Knights now face their third straight road game of the week as they take on the No. 11 Indianapolis Greyhounds on Saturday at 7:45 p.m. 

BOX SCORE