LOUISVILLE, Ky.—Top-ranked Bellarmine was put to the test Thursday night against No. 18 Missouri-St. Louis, but the Knights prevailed 65-60 at home in a game that featured the top two teams in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.
 
The visiting Tritons displayed the rebounding tenacity they have become known for and gobbled up 14 offensive boards to keep within striking distance, but Bellarmine's defense forced 17 turnovers and BU nailed 25 of 31 free throws to hold off the visitors.
 
Missouri-St. Louis Guard Yaakema Rose, Jr. impressed the near-capacity crowd at Knights Hall in the early going, pouring in 16 first half points.  However, the Knights were able to offset that performance by making 10 of 20 field goals in the first half to go into halftime holding a 34-28 advantage.   
 
Bellarmine never surrendered the lead in the second period and saw the margin grow to 11 on a CJ Fleming 3-pointer at the 6:18 mark.  After the Triton's Shane Wissink and the Knights's Alex Cook traded triples, the Knights enjoyed an 11-point cushion with just 4:27 remaining.
 
However, Missouri-St. Louis simply refused to go quietly and sandwiched three-point plays (one a trey, one the old-fashioned variety) around a Rose steal to get within five.  After a pair of empty possessions by both teams, UMSL's Jose Grubbs converted on a short jumper, to make it a 63-60 with just 67 seconds remaining. After working the shot clock down, Fleming misfired on a potential game-clenching three, and the Tritons grabbed the rebound with just 35 seconds remaining.
 
Bellarmine had fouls to give and used one early in the possession.  However, the game's turning came when the Knights' Parker Chitty slapped the ball out of Grubbs' hands and the ball went off Grubbs and out of bounds with just 12.6 seconds on the clock.  After officials confirmed the call on replay, Bellarmine got the inbounds pass to Cook, who was immediately fouled.  The senior drained both free throws, and any last gasp of hope for UMSL was erased when Dylan Penn blocked Rose's 3-point attempt on the ensuing possession.
 
"That was a great college basketball game," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. "(UMSL's) 14 and one  for a reason. They had quickness, and we had size at times.  But they're one of the best rebounding teams in the country…I mean that was a possession by possession, high, high level college basketball game. I'm proud of our guys.  That was tough."
 
Both teams came in with stellar defensive numbers, and it showed.  The Tritons and Knights ranked 2-3 in the nation in points allowed coming into the contest, and UMSL limited Bellarmine—the best-shooting team in the country to a field goal percentage of just 42.1 percent. The Knights, meanwhile, held the Tritons to just 43.6 percent including just seven of 24 behind the arc.
 
Cook led four Knights in double figures with 14 while adding team-highs in rebounds (eight) and assists (four).  Ben Weyer contributed 13 for the Knights while Penn and Fleming finished with 12 each.
 
Bellarmine contained Rose in the second half, with the junior college transfer netting just two after halftime to finish with 18 on seven of 11 shooting. Grubbs tallied 14 for UMSL.
 
The Knights extend their record to 13-0 on the season with a 6-0 mark in the GLVC.  The loss snapped UMSL's 13-game winning streak and dropped the Tritons to 14-2, 5-1 GLVC.
 
Bellarmine gets precious little time to savor the victory as the Knights hit the road on Friday to prepare for a Saturday contest at Lindenwood in St. Charles, Missouri.
 
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