LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Following on the heels of a demanding season start at the GLIAC/GLVC Challenge last week in Midland, Michigan, the No. 3 Bellarmine Knights basketball team now moves to what is arguably the nation's premier NCAA Division II basketball regular season event at the Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Evansville, Indiana on Nov. 18-19 at the Ford Center.
The Classic features two Division II tripleheaders highlighting three teams currently ranked in the top five in the NABC Division II poll. Four of the six participating schools own national titles.
Bellarmine (1-1) gets to kick off the classic by taking on the No. 5 Alabama-Huntsville Chargers at 4:30 p.m. (EST) on Friday. The two teams have not met since the Knights bested the Chargers 82-73 in an Elite 8 game back on March 21, 2012. Overall, the series—which dates back to 1997—is tied 2-2.
The Chargers have opened the 2016-17 campaign with two victories, defeating Saint Leo and Tampa in last weekend's GSC/SSC Conference Challenge. Louisville native Troy Saxton drained a triple with 26 seconds left to lift UAH over St. Leo 82-80, and Seab Webster hit the go-ahead free throws in the 91-86 win over Tampa with just 48 seconds remaining.
Webster is averaging a double-double so far this season, putting up 19.5 points and 10.0 rebounds a game. Like Bellarmine's
Rusty Troutman, Webster was a preseason honorable mention All-American in the Division II Bulletin.
Bellarmine's game on Saturday is a rematch of a 2015 Final Four battle as the Knights tangle with the Florida Southern Moccasins at 7 p.m. (EST). In that Final Four game, Florida Southern escaped with a 79-76 victory in same venue as Saturday's contest--the Ford Center. The Moccasins went on to capture the national title with a 15-point win over Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
The Bellarmine-Florida Southern series consists of just three games dating back to 2008, but all three have been classics. Interestingly, two of the three previous meetings were also in Evansville. In addition to the 2015 Final Four meeting, the Mocs and the Knights met in the 2008 Bill Joergens Memorial Tournament hosted by the University of Southern Indiana. Bellarmine pulled the upset in that meeting, knocking off the then 3rd-ranked Moccasins 62-60.
The other BU-Florida Southern game occurred in Knights Hall when the Knights fell in a heartbreaker as the Mocs posted a 101-96 win in overtime on Dec. 13, 2014. That date also represents the last time Bellarmine has lost in Knights Hall.
This year, the Moccasins have opened 1-2 on the season dropping two games in the GSC/SSC Conference Challenge, falling to Delta State and West Alabama, before opening their conference season with 97-87 win over St. Leo last night (Thursday).
Florida Southern has a trio of players averaging in double digits led by Brett Hanson at 17 points a game. The freshman guard has hit 21 of his 44 3-pointers for 47.7 percent. Two more 3-point sharpshooters also have started hot for the Mocs with LaBrian Shiflet and Jeremiah Davis averaging 16.3 and 15.3 points per game respectively.
For one Bellarmine player, the Hall of Fame Classic is a homecoming. Sophomore
Adam Eberhard, who leads the Knights in scoring at 16.5 points per game, is a native of Evansville having starred at Reitz Memorial High School.
Eberhard is coming off his most productive game as Knight. In Bellarmine's 85-70 victory at Northwood, the 6-8 forward tossed in a career high 22 points to raise his season average to 16.5.
Bellarmine's senior backcourt duo of Troutman and
Al Davis also has started the year on a positive note. Troutman is averaging 12.5 points and 4.5 rebounds a game while Davis is contributing and 11 points and 4.5 assists a game.
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