HARROGATE, Tenn.—The No. 3/5 Bellarmine Knights suffered their second loss of the season on Saturday night, falling on the road 74-60 to Lincoln Memorial in a non-conference game at Tex Turner Arena.
Bellarmine (10-2) posted season lows in points, shooting percentage and assists in the loss. The Knights, who totaled just seven assists, failed to record at least 10 for the first time since March 16, 2013 when they managed just six in an NCAA victory over Indianapolis in Springfield, Missouri.
Conversely, Lincoln Memorial (9-3) made 49.1 percent from the field, the best a Bellarmine opponent has shot this season.
"They were much the best," Bellarmine Coach
Scott Davenport said of the Railsplitters. "They shot 54 percent in the second half, and it wasn't off elaborate plays. It was just draw a line in the sand, one-on-one, I'm better than you are. It was going to take great team defense to win the game, and it was a lack of team defense that cost us the game."
Lincoln Memorial's Luquon Choice led all scorers with 18 while Bellarmine's
Rusty Troutman and
Adam Eberhard dropped in 16 apiece to the lead the Knights.
Al Davis, who battled foul trouble in the second half, added 10 for BU.
Bellarmine converted just 39.6 percent of its field goal attempts (21-53) while LMU was good on 27 of their 55 shots. Both teams tallied 16 points from the free throw line, with Railsplitters taking three more attempts (23).
Outside shooting hampered both squads. Bellarmine hit just two of its 14 shots behind the 3-point line (14.3%), which also marks a season low. The Railsplitters made just four of their 18 treys for 22.2 percent.
Lincoln Memorial, last year's NCAA Division II national runner-up, also won the battle of the boards. The Railsplitters yanked down 37 rebounds to just 30 for the Knights, despite a 7-rebound effort from Eberhard.
The Knights now move to the portion of their schedule that is exclusively Great Lakes Valley Conference play. Bellarmine, which is 2-0 thus far in the conference, hosts Rockhurst on Thursday, January 5 at 8 p.m. and will come back two days later to entertain William Jewell at 3:15 p.m.
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