LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The No. 13 Bellarmine Knights sent seniors Michael Parrish and George Suggs out on a winning note by dispatching the Maryville Saints 84-57 in their final regular season home game on Saturday afternoon in Knights Hall.

Suggs led all scorers with 17, hitting seven of 10 shots from the floor. The 6-10 forward also yanked down a team-high nine rebounds. 

The win gave Bellarmine its eighth straight 20-win season and polished off a perfect 15-0 slate at home this season.

"What a day for those guys (Suggs and Parrish)," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport.  "They both had tremendous games, which is hard to do because you want to play so well knowing that it's your last regular season (game) in here."

The seniors relished the moment.  "We wanted to finish it out in the right way," Suggs said.  "Mike and I didn't want to come out here and lay an egg and end up wondering, 'what if.'  We wanted our last moments here to be special, and it really was. This experience has been the best experience in my life, and it really means a lot to me."    

Parrish said, "I'm glad that we were able to get that win for the seniors, for the community and for the fans and everybody that rallied behind us and support us every year."

The Knights fell behind 2-0, but Suggs drained a three on the Knights' next possession and Bellarmine never trailed again.

Although the Saints kept it close over the first 15 minutes, Bellarmine grabbed its first double digit lead with 4:43 to go in the first period and went into halftime with a 39-26 advantage.

After the break, the Knights continued to extend the lead with the largest bulge being 28 with 56 seconds left in the contest.

Bellarmine, which is known for its offensive prowess and efficiency, turned in a solid defensive effort tonight, limiting the Saints to just 39.6 percent shooting. The Knights also won the battle of the backboards 40-31, giving up just three offensive rebounds.

In addition to Suggs' 17 points, the Knights got double figure scoring from Yasin Kolo (15), Rusty Troutman (13) and Al Davis (11).  Troutman added seven rebounds and Kolo corralled six.

Maryville was paced by Forrester Sims with 16 points while Marvin Grant-Clark hauled in nine rebounds.

The Knights improve to 20-4 overall and lead the GLVC East Division with a 13-2 mark.  Wisconsin-Parkside, which survived a second consecutive overtime game today, also has a 13-2 GLVC record.  Although the Knights lost to the Rangers in their only head-to-head competition, the Knights currently own the tiebreaker, which is winning percentage in divisional games.

Maryville drops to 9-16, 3-12 GLVC.

Bellarmine closes its regular season with three straight road games. This coming week, the Knights play at McKendree on Thursday and at Illinois-Springfield on Saturday before finishing at Southern Indiana on Feb. 25.

BOX SCORE (HTM)