ROLLA, Mo.-The No. 7/9 Bellarmine University Knights turned in another sterling performance in dismantling the Missouri S&T Miners 84-61 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game on Thursday night to give Coach Scott Davenport career win number 250.

Bellarmine, the top-shooting team in the nation, again scorched the nets with 59.6 percent shooting as they recorded 27 assists on 34 made baskets. In fact, the Knights recorded more assists than the Miners had field goals. Missouri S&T made just 22 buckets as Bellarmine's defense matched their offensive intensity, holding the Miners to just 34.4 percent shooting (22-64).

The hosts kept pace with the Knights over the game's first five minutes, but Bellarmine found its rhythm and quickly extended its lead to double digits, and by the halftime horn, had built a 47-24 cushion.

After the break, the Knights kept applying the pressure and enjoyed a 35-point lead at the 11:18 mark. From there, the Knights cruised to the victory as Davenport emptied the bench. All 15 players saw action, with 13 hitting the scoring column and 12 dishing out at least one assist.

Davenport pointed to rebounding and limiting turnovers as the two key areas to Bellarmine's success.
"(Missouri S&T) is the best offensive rebounding team in the league, and our fundamental blocking out was the best it's been all year," he said. "And they're number two in the league in forcing turnovers...and we only turned it over 12 times."

The Bellarmine coach now in his 11th year added, "The best thing to come out of this tonight is our young players got to go out on the road and have to really play...because it's different; it's not the same as playing at home."

Rusty Troutman paced the Knights' offensive attack, putting up 18 points in just 19 minutes of playing time. Josh Derksen came off the bench and tied his season high with 14 points in 17 minutes of court time, and George Suggs notched 12 points, five rebounds and four blocked shots.

Bellarmine's backcourt also posted solid numbers with Michael Parrish tallying seven points, a team-high seven rebounds, three assists and three steals while Al Davis added six points, five rebounds and five assists.

The Knights, ranked No. 7 in the National Media Poll and No. 9 in the NABC Rankings, also won key team statistical battles, outrebounding the Miners by two and committing two fewer turnovers.

Missouri S&T was paced by B.J. McLaughlin, who scored 18 points on six of 18 shooting.

Bellarmine improves to 18-3 on the season and stays in first place in the GLVC East Division with an 11-1 league record. The Miners fall to 8-13, 4-8 GLVC.

The Knights return to action on Saturday, when they travel to Springfield, Missouri to take on the Drury Panthers, who defeated Southern Indiana 75-62 tonight. Game time is set for 4:15 p.m. (ET) in the O'Reilly Center.

BOX SCORE (HTM)