Box Score LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine University men's basketball team opened postseason play today with an 82-69 victory over the William Jewell Cardinals in an opening round game of the Deaconess Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament this afternoon at Knights Hall.
 
The seventh-seeded Knights looked like they were going to cruise to an easy victory as their lead swelled to 20 in the early minutes of the second half, but the Cardinals stormed back to knot the score at 65 with 6:28 left in the game.  Bellarmine repelled the comeback attempt, however, by closing with a 17-4 run to secure the victory.
 
BU's Vance Hall tied his career high with 28 points to lead all scorers, and Jake Thelen posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds.  Dwight Sistruck led the Cardinals with 24.
 
"It's the greatest league in the country, nobody quits," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. "At halftime, we  told them to defend the three-point shot and eliminate the second shot. The last two segments of the game we outrebounded them, and they didn't get one offensive rebound, and that was the difference in the game."
 
The Bellarmine coach also credited the two seniors with helping the Knights advance.  "Vance Hall came up huge, and Keisten (Jones) came up huge, and those are your two seniors striving not to play their last game in a Bellarmine uniform" Davenport said.
 
Bellarmine never trailed in the game, starting the game with a 13-5 run in the game's first 4:18. With Hall netting 18 of his 28 in the first half, the Knights ran out to a lead as large as 18, before settling for a 46-31 halftime advantage.
 
The Knights scored the first five points of the second period to extend their cushion to 20, but William Jewell came battling back to tie it.  In erasing BU's 20-point advantage, the Cardinals came up with five offensive rebounds, hit four 3-pointers, forced four BU turnovers and finished the rally by converting three free throws as Alexander Hutson was fouled while shooting from beyond the arc.
 
Despite a terrible weather forecast, there was a nice home crowd in Knights Hall, and the more than 1200 Bellarmine faithful help rally the Knights after the Cardinals tied it.  First it was Hall with a jumper in the paint, then the Frankfort, Ky., senior hit a pair of free throws.  Thelen had a put back basket, and Rusty Troutman nailed a three from the right corner to give Bellarmine a nine-point advantage. 
 
Coming out of a WJC timeout, Tanner Gibson came up with a steal, and Keisten Jones hit a short jumper to put BU back on top by double digits, and the Cardinals got no closer than seven the rest of the way.
 
"These people (Bellarmine fans) came out, and they didn't just come support the  team--they got involved in the game and cheered," said Davenport.  "Believe me it was a big lift for these guys."
 
The Knights improve to 21-6 while the Cardinals end their season 11-17.  Bellarmine advances to the quarterfinals where they will meet No. 3 seed Indianapolis in the 8:30 (CST) p.m. game in Evansville's Ford Center on Friday.  Following today's games, the tournament was re-seeded, and due to Illinois-Springfield—the 12-seed—upsetting the No. 5 seeded-Truman State, Bellarmine is now the tourney's 6-seed from this point forward.
Bellarmine and Indianapolis split their two regular season meetings with each winning on the other's home floor. 
 
Other quarterfinal matchups include: No. 4 Lewis taking on No.5 Southern Indiana, No. 1 Drury facing No. 8 Illinois-Springfield, and No. 2 Wisconsin-Parkside squaring off against No. 7 Missouri St. Louis.
 
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