LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 22/24 Bellarmine Knights closed the first half on a 19-0 run and went on to coast to a 78-53 victory over the visiting McKendree University Bearcats in  a Great Lakes Valley Conference on Saturday afternoon in front of a national ESPN 3 audience.

Junior guard Al Davis led a balanced Bellarmine attack with 14 points and nine rebounds with Darin Winkleman leading the Bearcats with 12 points and eight rebounds.

"That was the best defense we've played all year," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport.  "Deflections are an objective measure of defensive effort, and we had the highest total of the year.  The (deflections) leaders were Mike (Parrish) and Al (Davis), so they set the tone. You talk about what a great passing team we are—we had 18 assists tonight--but every time we score a basket, they get the ball and what we strive to do is play team defensive basketball."

Davenport credited team basketball for setting up the 19-0 run.  "We scored on six of the last seven possessions (of the first half) and five of them were on assists. We found each other, and then it's contagious. Everybody wants to pass."

The unranked Bearcats came in unimpressed with the Knights' No. 22 ranking in the national media poll and ran out to a 20-16 lead with 7:59 remaining. However, the Knights answered by reeling off 23 of the game's next 25 points and went into halftime with a 39-22 advantage.

After the break, the lead swelled to as many as 36 before the Knights settled for the 25-point victory.

The Bearcats, who came into the contest as one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the entire country, were held to just 22.6 percent shooting from beyond the arc as McKendree hit just seven of 31 deep balls.

Meanwhile, the Knights beat the Bearcats at their own game by sinking 10 of 25 from long range. George Suggs led the way by canning three of five from long range with Brent Bach hittint both of his 3-point attempts.

Bellarmine finished the night 26 of 53 from the field and outshot McKendree 49.1 percent to just 32.3 percent.  The Knights also won the battle of the backboard, outrebounding the Bearcats 38-31.

With a balanced offensive attack, Bellarmine placed four players in double figures with Rusty Troutman (12) Yasin Kolo (12) and Suggs (11) joining Davis with more than 10 points on the game.

Bellarmine improves to 6-2 overall and starts the GLVC season with a 2-0 mark.  The Bearcats suffer just their second defeat of the season and fall to 4-2, 0-2 GLVC.

The Knights will return to the hardwood on Friday Dec. 11 when they entertain St. Catharine College in the opening round of the Bellarmine Classic, presented by the Louisville Airport East Exposition Center. Bellarmine will face Shaw on Dec. 12 in day two  action of the Bellarmine Classic.

BOX SCORE (HTM)