KANSAS CITY, Mo.—The No. 7/11 Bellarmine Knights survived a 16-0 run by the homestanding Rockhurst Hawks to pull out a 72-65 victory in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at Mason-Halpin Field House on Saturday afternoon.

After the Knights had built their biggest lead of the game at 46-31, the Hawks heated up from 3-point land and used the long range shot to fuel a 16-0 run to pull ahead 47-46 with 9:38 remaining in the game.  

Bellarmine big man Yasin Kolo finally stemmed the tide for the Knights by canning a trey as BU regained the lead 49-47. But, Rockhurst stayed hot from the outside and answered with a triple of their own on the ensuing possession.

The Hawks increased their lead to three, but the Knights took the lead for good on Adam Eberhard's layup with 6:44 remaining. Interestingly, that would be Bellarmine's final field goal as the Knights secured the victory by connecting on 16 of 20 free throws in the game's final 5:20 as four different Hawks fouled out.

Michael Parrish and Rusty Troutman delivered clutch performances with each canning seven of eight of charity tosses over that span.

"That was a really, really tough game," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport, "and when we get outscored by 21 points from the 3-point line, we are fortunate to come out with a win."

The Hawks connected on nine of their 29 3-pointers while Bellarmine suffered its worst shooting game of the year from behind the arc, making just two of 15. 

Davenport added, "Little Mike (Parrish) willed this team to a win tonight," pointing to his late game heroics and determination on both ends of the floor. "Statistically we didn't play a bad game," Davenport said, "and our late game execution was tremendous."

The 11^th year head coach also gave credit to Rockhurst and first year coach Drew Diener. "They're much improved, and they're going to be a force down the road," Davenport said.

Troutman led all scorers with 20, and the reigning GLVC Player of the Week just missed a double-double by coming up with nine rebounds.  Kolo also just missed a double-double by scoring 10 and hauling in nine boards. Adam Eberhard continued his outstanding play, hitting six of seven from the field and finishing with 15 points—just one shy of his career high.

Bellarmine shot 48.8 percent for the game, converting 21 of 43 attempts. It was their performance at the free throw line, however, that earned the Knights the victory.  After going just 9-for-15 in the first half, the Knights made 19 of 24 free throws in the second period to finish 28-39 (71.8 percent).

The Hawks were limited to just 25 percent shooting in the opening period, but came back in the second half with a 16 of 31 shooting performance to end the game at 38.1 percent.  Most of that improvement came from their long range shooting.  Rockhurst made just three of 16 in the first half, then converted on six of their 13 triples in the second period.

Dominique Washington led the Hawks with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Bellarmine, ranked No. 7 in the National Media Poll and No. 11 in the NABC Division II poll, improves to 11-2 on the year and is unbeaten in four GLVC contests.  The Hawks slip to an even 6-6 on the year with a 1-3 GLVC mark.

The Knights now return home, where they will host three games in six days beginning with a Thursday matchup against Truman State at 8 p.m.  On Saturday, Bellarmine entertains Quincy at 3:15 p.m., and on Monday the Knights' travel partner—Southern Indiana—comes to town for an 8 p.m. game.

BOX SCORE (HTM)