Box Score EVANSVILLE, Ind.—The No. 12 Bellarmine University Knights advanced to the semifinals of the Deaconess Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship today with a 53-48 victory over the Maryville Saints on Thursday afternoon in the Ford Center.

Bellarmine (22-6) got a few late game heroics from Jelani Johnson and a 17-point, six-rebound performance from Chris Dowe as the Knights  led most of the way although neither team led by more than nine.

Coming down the stretch, Johnson's deflection resulted in a Maryville turnover at the 1:39 mark as the Knights were protecting just a four point lead.  The senior from Aurora, Ill., then converted three of four free throws in the final 27.2 seconds to help secure the win for Bellarmine.

“I couldn't be more proud of our effort in gutting it out down the stretch, just doing the little fundamental things right,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport.  “We just beat one of the finest young coaches in the nation,” Daveponort added. “Kevin Carroll is one of the best young coaches I've ever coached against.”

Maryville, the tourney's No. 4 seed, drew first blood by nailing a three 37 seconds into the game.  However, the Saints' 3-point lead would match their biggest cushion of the game as the Knights pulled ahead for good on Vance Hall's old-fashioned three point play at the 6:41 mark of the first half.

Bellarmine would go on to take a 25-20 lead into the locker room at halftime in the low-scoring affair.

In the second period, the Knights built a nine-point lead at the 13:13 mark, but the Saints battled back and cut it to two on several occasions, but Bellarmine never surrendered the lead.

The Knights were held to just 41.7 percent shooting, but yielded just 40.5 percent shooting to Maryville as Bellarmine turned in a solid defensive effort.  The Knights forced 16 turnovers with eight steals.  Meanwhile, Bellarmine did a solid job of taking care of the ball.  After committing eight first half turnovers, the Knights coughed it up just twice in the second period.

Rebounds were even at 26 apiece, with Bellarmine's Johnson claiming the most caroms with eight on the day. 

Dowe's 17 points led all scorers, as other top Bellarmine contributors included Hall with 11 and Johnson with nine.

Maryville (23-9) was led by Armon Provo with 16, and Asa Toney added 11. 

Bellarmine, which entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed, will move on to play No. 1 seed Drury  (77-72 winners over Indianapolis) on Saturday at the Ford Center.  It will mark the fifth straight trip the GLVC semifinals for the Knights.