Box Score SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — For the second straight season, the Bellarmine University men's basketball team took the axe to an astonishing win streak by Drury. As a result, when Knights Coach Scott Davenport was asked to select a Player of the Game, there was no way he could narrow his numerous options down to one.

"I give it to everybody that had a Bellarmine uniform on," exclaimed Davenport after his Knights ended Drury's 32-game home winning streak with a 62-58 triumph on Saturday in a matchup of Great Lakes Valley Conference heavyweights at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.
 

"Every player that played on both teams — for 400 total minutes — played their hearts out in the best league in the country."

Davenport's charges performed a similar feat last season against the Panthers at Knights Hall, snapping the 34-game winning streak of the then-defending national champions in an 85-77 victory. After the most recent thrilling success for Bellarmine, which is ranked fourth in the media poll and sixth in the coaches' poll, the Knights moved to 4-0 in the GLVC and 12-1 overall while Drury dropped to 3-2 in league play and 9-4 overall.

"It's so gratifying," Davenport said. "You have to beat (Drury); they don't give you the game. I'm just so proud. The leadership today was phenomenal. This was a special, special win."

Senior forward Jake Thelen is now seven points shy of joining Bellarmine's 1,000-point club after pouring in a game-high 20 against the Panthers. Sophomore forward Josh Derksen had 14 and sophomore guard Rusty Troutman added 11, including the game-clinching free throws with 2 seconds left. Thelen and Troutman barely came up short of double-doubles, hauling in nine rebounds apiece.

The game was a tight affair throughout. Bellarmine built a seven-point lead in the first half before Drury took a 32-31 halftime edge on a 3-pointer by Kameron Bundy in the waning seconds. The biggest lead for the Panthers was only three, the last of which came with 12:35 left in the second half.

Thelen tied it up on a traditional three-point play and his jumper gave Bellarmine a lead it would never relinquish. Derksen followed a pair of free throws by Troutman by drilling a 3-pointer for a 54-47 lead with 6:08 left. The 8-3 mini-run, which began with a trifecta by junior forward George Suggs, provided the distance the Knights needed.

Still, Drury never allowed Bellarmine to run away with it. After trailing by seven with 1:21 remaining, the Panthers raced back to within 60-58 and had the opportunity to tie or take the lead before Troutman blocked Bundy's layup attempt with 5 seconds left. Troutman iced the game by stroking both his free throws to finish 8 for 8 from the charity stripe.

"Rusty just made courageous play after courageous play," Davenport said.

His last capped a colossal defensive effort that saw the Knights limit the Panthers to less than 40 percent shooting from the floor. Drury, which averages over 72 points, recorded its third-lowest scoring output of the season. Cameron Adams paced the Panthers with 19 points.

"We held one of the best-coached teams in the country — one of the most prolific offensive teams in the country — to 38.8 percent shooting. That's where we won the game," Davenport said.

While turnovers hindered Bellarmine in the first half, the Knights built their lead to as much as seven points behind 57.9 percent shooting from the floor. BU cooled off in the second half but made up for it by canning 15 of its 18 free throw attempts and 21 of 25 for the game. Drury made 13 of 18 from the charity stripe.

The victory was Bellarmine's fifth in a row, although certainly things don't get any easier. The Knights play at fifth-ranked and undefeated Indianapolis on Thursday.

"Indy is playing arguably the best basketball in the country," Davenport said. "We're going to enjoy this one tonight and worry about Indy in the morning."

BOX SCORE (HTM)