Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mo.—The  Bellarmine University's men's basketball team fell in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Championship's Midwest Regional dropping an 80-75 decision to the University of Indianapolis in a  hard-fought, physical matchup at the O'Reilly Center on the campus of Drury University.

The Knights end their season 23-8 while the Greyhounds improve to 24-4 and will advance to meet Michigan Tech in the regional semifinals. 

The game marked the fourth matchup between the GLVC powerhouses, with Bellarmine winning two of the first three.
In today's contest, neither team could get separation or put together a sustained run with Bellarmine's largest lead being four while the Greyhound's biggest cushion was just six.

Bellarmine's Vance Hall led all scorers with 21, and UIndy was paced by Reece Cheatham's 18 points, that included 5-of-11 3-point shooting. 

"I don't feel one bit different than if we would have won 80-75," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport.  "There are over 1200 basketball teams in Divisions I, II, and  III  in the NCAA and I wouldn't trade places with one coach in America to coach at this university and the group of kids that I coach.  They're devastated in that locker room and that's because they care so much.  They represent this basketball program on the court and off the court in an absolute tremendous fashion."

Bellarmine outscored the Hounds from the floor, but UIndy converted 20 of 32 free throws while the Knights were just 12 of 16 from the line.  The Knights hit 48.1 percent from the field, including 11 of 21 from beyond the arc.  UIndy hit 44.8 percent of their shots and were eight of 20 from long range."

The Knights committed 18 turnovers as the Greyhounds harassed BU with 10 steals on the game.  Indianapolis also benefited from second chances with 14 offensive rebounds as they won the battle of the backboards 35-32."

The loss brings an end to the Bellarmine playing careers of Hall and Jones. "We tried everything we could," said Hall.  "We left it all there.  I was just happy to play with these guys."

Jones said his four years wearing the Bellarmine uniform was an enriching experience.  "The last four years I've learned a lot, not just basketball wise but things that will help me later on in life as a person," he said. "My four years here, I couldn't have asked for anything better.  I made a lot of new friends--a lot of new brothers.  I'll keep in touch with them the rest of my life.  I've had some great coaches here.  Everything you could ask for in four years in a program is pretty much what I got.  I just wished it wasn't over."

Jones finishes his career with 1,387 points, which is 17^th on BU's all-time list.  He also ranks No. five on the 3-pointers in a career list with 154.  Hall, who played  two years at BU after transferring from Wright State, finished 934 points at Bellarmine and will go down as the fourth best free throw shooter in school history after making 186 of 224 (83%) at BU.

BOX SCORE