Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 2 Bellarmine University Knights cruised to an 86-51 victory over the visiting Golden Bears of West Virginia Tech tonight in a non-conference game in Knights Hall.

Junior forward Jake Thelen set a career high with 23 points to lead four Knights in double digit scoring. Senior Keisten Jones became the 35^th member of the Bellarmine 1,000 point club as he picked up the first basket of the game just 10 seconds into the contest.

Thelen, who entered the game as the third best shooter in the country, improved on his season average by hitting 10 of 11 shots.  The Edgewood, Ky. native also hauled in nine rebounds to share game high honors with teammate Vance Hall.

"We practiced great all week, so I'm not surprised," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport.  "I'm very proud of our defensive effort, and equally as proud at having 33 baskets on 26 assists.  It was great tonight to be able to play everybody," Davenport added, indicating that it was finals week for the players and, therefore, a tough time to play.

The Knights' defense limited the Golden Bears (8-7) to just 30 percent shooting, and they bottled up their leading scorer Brandon Burgraff to just four points.

Bellarmine was never seriously threatened in the game and led by as many as 42 after freshman Josh Derksen flushed down a reverse dunk at the 12:05 mark of the second half. 

Despite the large victory margin, Bellarmine produced its worst shooting night of the year making just 33 of 75 field goals for 44 percent.  The Knights entered play tonight as the best shooting team in Division II at nearly 58 percent on the year.

The Knights enjoyed great individual performances up and down the lineup tonight.  In addition to Thelen's performance, Hall impressed the Knights Hall faithful by nearing triple-double numbers in just 21 minutes of action.  The senior from Frankfort totaled 11 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.  Junior guard Corbin Maynard also gave the Bellarmine fans reason to cheer with his 15 minutes of action that produced five steals, five points and four rebounds.

Bellarmine (5-0) continued to show prowess on the backboard, and outrebounded WVT 51-37 including a 20-13 advantage on the offensive glass.

The Knights are back in action on Friday and Saturday hosting Virginia Union and Ohio Valley in 7:30 p.m. tips both nights as part of the Bellarmine Classic.  Both of those games will be preceded by No. 11 Southern Indiana playing the non-Bellarmine opponent in 5 p.m. contests.

BOX SCORE (HTM)