LOUISVILLE, Ky.—No. 1 Bellarmine rolled to an 81-57 victory over visiting Illinois Springfield in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game on Thursday night in Knights Hall.
 
Playing for the first time in 15 days, the Knights raced out to a 13-4 lead in the game's first 3:21 and were never seriously challenged by the visiting Prairie Stars, who suffered just their third loss of the season.
 
The long layoff showed up in the way of seven first half turnovers over the Knights, but the Bellarmine defense was stellar, holding a team that was averaging 85.8 points a game to its second-lowest output of the season.  The Knights were especially effective at keeping the potent UIS perimeter game in check, limiting the Prairie Stars to just 8-for-28 shooting from beyond the arc.
 
"To come back (after the layoff) and execute like they did…to see the game plan come to fruition on the court--that's a great feeling as a teacher," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. "That's an offensive basketball team that we held to 57 points.  That's a defensive effort I'm incredibly proud of."
 
Although the Knights led 43-23 at the half, Davenport wasn't really pleased with the first 20 minutes. "We had more turnovers in the first half than we had assists," he pointed out.  "The first eight minutes of the second half is when they really grabbed ahold of the basketball game."
 
Indeed, the Knights saw their lead swell to 29 early in the second period, and the Knights coasted in for the 24-point victory as no Bellarmine starter played more than nine minutes in the second half.
 
Again, Bellarmine got a balanced scoring attack with four players in double figures.  Alex Cook led the way with 16 while Pedro Bradshaw recorded his first double-double as a Knight with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Ben Weyer added 13 points, three blocked shots and six rebounds, and Dylan Penn contributed 14 points and three assists.
 
Matt Wendling paced the Prairie Star attack and was the only UIS player to reach double figures, tying Cook for game-high honors with 16 points.
 
Bellarmine ended the game outshooting UIS 50.7 to 40.4 percent, and BU held a 37-27 advantage in rebounds.  The Knights also forced 20 Prairie Stars turnovers and took care of the ball much better themselves in the second period to finish with just 11 for the game.
 
The Knights improve to 9-0 (2-0 GLVC) with the win while UIS slips to 7-3, 0-2 GLVC. 
 
Next up for Bellarmine is a Saturday game against Lewis at 3:15 p.m. in Knights Hall.  The Flyers saw a six-game win streak snapped on Thursday as the No. 11 Indianapolis Greyhounds took an 82-67 win.
 
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