MIDLAND, Mich.—After overcoming a 17-point first half deficit to lead the majority of the second period, the No. 3 Bellarmine Knights' comeback was spoiled when Saginaw Valley's Malik Garner connected on a 3-pointer with just 4.1 seconds remaining to give the Cardinals a 68-66 victory tonight in the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge at Riepma Arena on the campus of Northwood University.
Bellarmine had one final chance, but SVSU's C.J. Turnage partially blocked
Brent Bach's last-second 3-point attempt to seal the win for the fourth-ranked Cardinals.
In the season debut for both teams, the Knights hit 54.2 percent of their shots while holding Saginaw Valley to just 39.3 percent. The Cardinals compensated for their poor shooting by coming up with 16 offensive rebounds as they attempted 13 more shots than the Knights.
Bellarmine Coach
Scott Davenport said those statistics led to Bellarmine's downfall. "When you look at the box score, it's not very difficult to figure out," he said. "We shoot 54 percent and get 13 less shots because of two things: we turn it over 18 times and we give up 16 offensive rebounds. In the second half, they missed 18 shots and got 10 offensive rebounds."
The final statistics back up Davenport's assessment. Saginaw Valley outscored the Knights 25-11 in points off turnovers and owned a 22-10 advantage is second chance points.
The 12th year coach also pointed to poor practice contributing to the loss. "We lost this game on Thursday," he said. "We had our worst practice of the year, and it carried over into the first half…and we found ourselves down by 17."
Facing a 29-12 deficit at the 7:16 mark of the first half, the Knights went on a 16-1 run over the next six and a half minutes and went into halftime trailing by just two.
After the break, the Cardinals maintained the upper hand until a
Jarek Coles layup gave Bellarmine its first lead since the game's opening minute.
Bellarmine then held onto its advantage until a pair of Garrett Hall free throws tied the game with 5:43 remaining.
The Knights again rallied to take a five-point advantage with just 1:33 on the clock, but four SVSU free throws sandwiched around a Bellarmine turnover pulled the Cardinals within one with 48 ticks on the clock.
George Knott missed a 3-point attempt for Bellarmine, and Mike Wells grabbed the rebound for Saginaw Valley. Just before Garner's game-winning shot, it looked as if the Knights may have come up with a steal. However, SVSU's Richie Roberts scooped up the loose ball and shuffled it to Garner for the game-winner.
Saginaw Valley's Hall led all scorers with 17 despite hitting just five of 15 field goals. Turnage added 14 points for the Cardinals and corralled six rebounds—five on the offensive glass.
Four Bellarmine players reached double figures with
Al Davis leading the way with 12.
Adam Eberhard contributed 11 while
Rusty Troutman and Bach chipped in 10 apiece. Troutman was the Bellarmine rebounding leader with seven. Davis's three assists were the most for the Knights as they dished out only 11 in the game—the lowest assist total for a Bellarmine team since the 2014-15 season.
The Knights have a short turnaround for their next game, facing the host Northwood Timberwolves on Saturday night in a game set for a 7:30 p.m. tip.
BOX SCORE (HTM)
