LOUISVILLE, Ky.—A close game at halftime quickly became a blowout as the host Bellarmine Knights erupted for a 29-0 run to start the second half and coasted to a 95-52 victory over Mount St. Joseph on Sunday afternoon in Knights Hall.
 
The visiting Lions buried seven of 15 three pointers in the first half, and the Knights held just a 39-34 advantage at the intermission as Bellarmine helped MSJ along with nine first-half turnovers.
 
"I was not happy at halftime," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport.  "The numbers don't lie.  There's a right way to play basketball and a wrong way.  That's what I talked about at halftime."
 
The coach's speech obviously fell on attentive ears as the Knights displayed the right way to play basketball in the second half.  The Bellarmine defense pitched a shutout over the first 8:47 of the period, and the offense purred with near perfection. Again, the numbers don't lie.  After intermission, the Knights shot 80 percent (24 of 30) while limiting the Lions to just 22.7 percent (five of 22). Bellarmine also cleaned up the turnovers in the final 20 minutes, committing just one.
 
Playing for the first time since a Dec. 3 victory over Indianapolis, the Knights may have been just a bit rusty, but thanks to the strong second half, they finished the game shooting 70.9 percent with 25 assists while outrebounding the visitors 34-16 and limiting the Lions to just 36.7 percent shooting.  Perhaps the most telling statistic illustrating the Knights' dominance on the inside was points in the paint, where Bellarmine owned a 60-10 advantage.
 
Individually, 14 Knights saw action with all hitting the scoring column except Ethan Claycomb, who did contribute four rebounds and two assists.  Junior guard CJ Fleming led four Bellarmine players in double figures with 18 on eight-of-11 shooting.
 
Cobe Penny 17 points for a new career high, and Cook added 14 for BU. Pedro Bradshaw was the fourth Knight in double figures with 10.  Other leaders for the Knights included Parker Chitty with five assists and Cook with seven rebounds.
 
The Lions got 17 points from Devin Young to lead their attack.
 
Bellarmine, ranked No. 1 in the National Media Poll and No. 2 in the NABC Rankings, improves to 7-0 on the season.  Mount St. Joseph, an NCAA Division III school in the Heartland Conference, counted the game as an exhibition so the Lions remain 3-7 on the year.
 
The Knights close out the calendar year 2019 with a road contest on Wednesday when they travel to Memphis for an 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CST) game with Christian Brothers.
 
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