LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The 13th-ranked Bellarmine Knights turned in one of its most dominating performances of the season in throttling the William Jewell Cardinals 91-53 on Saturday afternoon in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game in Knights Hall.
 
For the second game in a row, Adam Eberhard led the Knights (12-2, 4-0 GLVC) in points, rebounds and assists.  The 6-8 forward from Evansville again proved that he is a triple-double threat with 17 points, eight rebounds and a career-high eight assists.
 
However, Eberhard was far from a one-man show for Bellarmine. Five different players reached double figures, and the team gang-rebounded with six Knights corralling at least four.
 
Perhaps most impressive is Bellarmine turned in tonight's outstanding performance without preseason All-American Rusty Troutman, who was nursing a sore ankle.
 
"It was a complete game, so it was a real positive day for everyone in the basketball program, save Rusty, who was trying to get over a tender ankle," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport."
 
Bellarmine jumped out to 12-4 lead to open the game, and William Jewell (3-9, 1-4 GLVC) never got closer than five the rest of the way despite hitting 54 percent of its first half field goals. The Knights were able to keep the Cardinals at bay by forcing 13 first half turnovers and turning those into 14 points and went into halftime with a 46-31 advantage.
 
After the break, the Knights clamped down defensively, holding the Cards to just 30 percent shooting in the second period. Bellarmine saw its lead balloon to 41 points at the 7:02 mark, and the Knights coasted to the 38-point win.
 
In addition to Eberhard's solid numbers, junior Tyler Jenkins strung together an impressive stat line that included 15 points and career highs in rebounds and assists with six and five respectively.
 
Freshman Alex Cook, who got his first career start, added 13 points and six rebounds. He also contributed to the highlight reel with two impressive dunks.
 
Guards Al Davis and Jarek Coles totaled 10 points apiece, and freshman Ben Weyer chipped in nine points in 16 minutes of action as 10 different players scored for Bellarmine.
 
The Knights' solid team effort included 51.5 percent shooting with 26 assists. Bellarmine also controlled the glass, owning a 41-28 rebounding advantage.
 
Just two players reached double digits for William Jewell with Jorge Perez-Laham and Patrick Whelan each tallying 10.
 
Bellarmine now faces its toughest road trip of the year, traveling to face the top two team in the GLVC West on back to back days.  The Knights face off against Quincy on Thursday night.  The Hawks are 15-1 on the season with an unblemished 5-0 record in the conference play.
 
Then, to accommodate a scheduling request, Bellarmine plays Truman State the following day. The Bulldogs, who are off to a 12-3 (4-1 GLVC) start, had the opportunity to play an exhibition game against Division I Creighton on Saturday, so the Bellarmine-TSU game was moved ahead a day.  (The Bellarmine-Truman women's game will be played on Saturday.)
 
Following those two tough, back-to-back games on the road, Bellarmine then has to travel to Evansville to play the undefeated Screaming Eagles of Southern Indiana on Tuesday, Jan. 16.
 
 
BOX SCORE (HTM)