LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 8 Bellarmine Knights shrugged off their worst shooting night of the year to  post a 75-45 victory over Ohio Valley in a non-conference game as they made their home debut in Knights Hall tonight.
 
Although the Knights hit just 44 percent of their shots, they forced 27 OVU turnovers and held the Fighting Scots to 30 percent shooting. Ohio Valley's 45 points are the fewest by a Bellarmine opponent since the Knights defeated Malone 87-40 on Nov. 26, 2011.
 
All 11 Bellarmine players who saw floor time entered the scoring column with Al Davis topping the list with 12 points. Also reaching double digits were Adam Eberhard, Tyler Jenkins, and Brent Bach who added 11 apiece while Jarek Coles dropped in 10, a new career high. Sophomore Willie Schurfranz also tossed in a career high, making all four of his field goal attempts for eight points. Freshman Alex Cook led the Knights with nine rebounds. 
 
Aleksander Djordjevic hit six of eight field goals to pace the Fighting Scots with 13 points. 
 
Bellarmine jumped out to quick 6-0 lead on a pair of Davis treys, and the Knights kept their foot on the accelerator to lead by as many as 28 in the first half.
 
In the second period, the Knights got a little sloppy and did not play well with the lead as Ohio Valley whittled the margin down to as few as 19.
 
"The numbers don't lie," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. "In the first half, we were exceptional. We gave up 20.7 (percent) from the field, but in the second half we gave up 40.7 (percent). In the first half, they shot 28.6 (percent) from the three, and in the second half 45.5 (percent). That's because of the way we played defensively.  Deflections were down, but my biggest concern is turnovers.

"We make turnovers that good teams don't make," Davenport said. "We have to clean those up because I know we are a good basketball team. You can't turn it over when you are one of the best shooting teams in the country."

The Knights improve to 4-1 overall while Ohio Valley slips to 0-4. 

Bellarmine's next action also will mark its Great Lakes Valley Conference debut as the Knights travel to Illinois Springfield on Dec. 1. Bellarmine will close the road trip on Saturday, Dec. 3 at McKendree University.

BOX SCORE (HTM)