LEBANON, Ill.—A strong second half defensive effort lifted the No. 1 Bellarmine Knights to a 76-60 victory over McKendree in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game at the Harry Statham Center on Thursday night.
 
Although the game started more than an hour later than scheduled due to the women's game going into overtime, neither team showed signs of being affected by the late start. In fact, over the first 20 minutes, Bellarmine and McKendree combined to make 27 of 41 shots (65.8%) including 12 of 18 (66.7%) from beyond the 3-point arc. However, both teams were sloppy with the basketball, combining for 22 first half turnovers.
 
A late surge gave the Knights a 39-33 edge at halftime as Alex Cook canned a pair of free throws just before the final horn to complete an 8-2 run over the final 1:54.   
 
The Knights really took control of the game with a 14-2 run in the second period that saw a four-point cushion swell to a 60-44 lead at the 7:49 mark.  Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport credited his defense for the run as the Knights limited the Bearcats to just 31.6% shooting in the final 20 minutes.
 
Cook turned in a season-high 22 points and hauled in a game-high seven rebounds to pace the Knights.  Dylan Penn also was a big factor with 20 points, and three assists.
 
McKendree got 17 points from 3-point sharpshooter Oliver Stephen, with Logan Kohrmann adding 16 points and seven boards.  
 
"We did, defensively, a whale of a job because (McKendree Coach) Chris Foster is a heck of a basketball coach," said Davenport. "The whole halftime talk was that we had two kills (three consecutive defensive stops) in the first half, and I asked them the question 'how many will we get in the second half?'  We ended up getting three, but we won the wars in the second half. Our goal in the second half—aside from answering the question—was that they (McKendree) had to shoot under 40 percent.  They shot 31 percent, and that's the game right there."
 
The Knights, who entered the game as the best-shooting team in the country at 55 percent, actually improved on that by finishing 25 of 45 for 55.6% and they hit six of 13 triples for 46.2%.  Meanwhile, the Bearcats saw their shooting slip to just 48.7% after making 13 of 20 in the first half.  Bellarmine also held a 25-21 rebounding edge while forcing 22 McKendree turnovers.
 
Bellarmine improves to 11-0 on the season and remains atop the GLVC standings with a 4-0 mark. The Bearcats slip to 7-5, 2-2 in league play.
 
The Knights face another stern road challenge on Saturday when they travel to No. 20 Southern Indiana for an 8:30 p.m. (7:30 p.m. CST) contest at USI's new Screaming Eagles Arena.  Tickets are available through the Bellarmine ticket office.  Call 502-272-8036 by 3 p.m. on Friday to reserve tickets.
 
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