KIRKSVILLE, Mo.—When Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport got his first glimpse of his 2017-18 Great Lakes Valley Conference schedule, he knew the four-game road stretch from February 8th to the 17th was going to be a tall order for his Knights.  But after today's 82-70 victory over Truman State in Pershing Arena, Bellarmine got through that portion of the schedule with a perfect 4-0 mark.

Not only did the Knights survive that stretch, they thrived.  Bellarmine defeated McKendree, Southern Indiana, Rockhurst and Truman by an average of 25.25 points. Making the feat even more impressive is the fact that Bellarmine won the last two games without a contribution from one its starters.

After the Knights blew out USI behind a 30-point, 12-rebound effort from Chivarsky Corbett, the junior Delaware transfer had to sit out the last two games with a back injury.

For the team-minded Knights, everyone seemed to chip in to make up for Corbett's absence. Against Rockhurst, five different players reached double figures led by a career-high 19 points out of Jarek Coles. Today, it was Alex Cook delivering a career-best 24 points to lead four Knights in double digits.

"I'm so proud of our basketball team," said Davenport, "because this is—in my opinion—the toughest conference schedule we've ever played. For this team to win this league outright is a tremendous accomplishment."

Today's opponent, the Truman State Bulldogs, came in as the third-ranked team in the GLVC point standings and went toe-to-toe with the No. 7 Knights.

The game was a close throughout the opening 14 minutes, but Bellarmine closed the first half on a 14-5 run to take a 42-28 lead into halftime.

After the break, the Knights extended the lead to as many as 24 with 3:55 remaining.  However, the Bulldogs lived up to their tenacious nickname and buckled down with a furious comeback down the stretch, shaving 14 points off the Bellarmine lead before the Knights escaped with the 12-point victory.

"Truman played to the horn, and they are a really, really good basketball team," Davenport said. "The turnovers late…we were just trying to get to the end of the game. Your attitude should be, 'I never want the game to be over.' Instead, we played like we wanted the game to end."

Statistically, the Knights turned in another outstanding effort.  On offense, Bellarmine made 52.7 percent of its shots while connecting on 12 of 25 from downtown for 48 percent. The Knights also were efficient at the free throw line, hitting 12 of 14 for 85.7 percent.

Defensively, the Knights held one of the GLVC's most potent offenses to 15 points below its season average. Bellarmine also controlled the glass, outrebounding the Bulldogs 33-24.

Cook delivered the top individual performance, barely missing a double-double by yanking down nine rebounds to go with his 24 points.  Ben Weyer and Adam Eberhard each contributed 16 points with Eberhard handing out a game-high seven assists.

Brent Bach continued to score at a consistent pace with 14 today while Daniel Ramser earned Davenport's praise after the game by ripping down seven rebounds—four on the offensive end—and adding seven points.

Thomas Brodric was the top Bulldog point-producer with 21 on a night that included a 4-for-6 shooting performance from beyond the arc.

Bellarmine improves to 24-2 on the season with a 15-2 GLVC mark, guaranteeing the Knights the best conference record in 2018.  Drury, which has the second-best record in the league, already has four GLVC losses.

Truman State slips to 16-9, 11-5 GLVC and tumbles a spot to No. 4 in the conference point standings.

The Knights close out their regular season on Thursday against Indianapolis.  The Greyhounds have won five in a row, and with their 90-79 victory over William Jewell today, are now in second place in the GLVC point standings.

The Bellarmine-UIndy game is schedule to tip at 8 p.m.  Prior to the game, Bellarmine will honor senior players Rhett Troutman, Tyler Jenkins, Coles and Bach along with manager Grant Walker.

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