Box Score
LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 15 Bellarmine University Knights scored a hard-fought 73-62 victory over the visiting No. 16 Southern Indiana Screaming Eagles in a Great Lakes Valley Conference battle in Knights Hall on Thursday night.

Paced by a career high 16 points from senior Jelani Johnson, the Knights won a classic GLVC game by shooting an impressive 52.4 percent from the field to combat the Screaming Eagles' 19 offensive rebounds as USI's Keith DeWitt recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 19 points and 12 rebounds, including nine offensive boards.

Bellarmine improves to 19-5 (11-5 GLVC) with the victory while USI falls to 18-6 (11-5 GLVC).  The Knights take over second place in the GLVC by virtue of owning tie-breakers with USI.

The Knights seized control of the game early and led from the 17:31 of the first half on.  After heading into the locker room with a 47-34 halftime lead, the Screaming Eagles cut the Knights lead to just four on two occasions. However, Bellarmine repelled the USI comeback each time, and Johnson's  3-pointer at the 11:49 mark provided the Knights with the cushion they needed to ride out the win.

Bellarmine, which hit 20 of 21 free throws to keep the Screaming Eagles at bay, placed four players in  double figures with Chris Dowe adding 14 and Vance Hall and Keisten Jones pumping in 13 apiece to go along with Johnson's 16.

Southern Indiana placed just two players in double figures as Taylor Wischmeier tallied 10 points to go along with DeWitt's 19.

“I'm so proud of the way this team performed,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. “To score 47 points in a half against a Rodney Watson-coached defensive team and to shoot 52 percent for the game is amazing.”   

The eighth year former national coach of the year, chalked up DeWitt's performance against his Knights to just being a superior player. “We tried playing behind him; we tried fronting him; we tried a few surprise traps in there; he's just a great player,” Davenport said of DeWitt.

However, Bellarmine countered with a gritty performance from Johnson.  “He battled, he really battled tonight with everything he had,” Davenport said of Johnson's play.

With just two games remaining in the regular season, Bellarmine's best finish in the GLVC would be a second place finish in the East Division.  “The bottom line is if we win the next two, we win the tiebreakers with USI,” said Davenport.  That would provide the Knights with a first round bye in the GLVC postseason tournament.

“In this league, you've got to validate your wins the next night out,” Davenport said, “and that's what we have to do.”

Bellarmine travels to Kentucky Wesleyan on Saturday to face the Panthers in an 8:30 game at the Sportscenter, and their season finale comes Thursday at home against McKendree

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