FORT MYERS, Fla. — The Bellarmine University men's basketball team basked in the Florida sunshine.

And not just when it came to the heavenly weather either.

On Friday evening in Alico Arena, Bellarmine captured the first ASUN Conference win in program history after building a 27-point lead and holding off a late charge by Florida Gulf Coast to post a 74-60 victory.

With fall sports postponed due to the pandemic, men's basketball not only delivered the university's first-ever Division I win among its former Division II teams (lacrosse was already DI), the Knights (4-5, 1-2 ASUN) produced the first conference victory among those same squads with the triumph over FGCU (5-3, 0-1).

"To feel their emotion. How bad they wanted it," Knights Coach Scott Davenport said. "They just did something that will never be taken away from them. They'll never forget tonight."

Senior guard CJ Fleming paced Bellarmine with a game-high 19 points and stroked a trio of 3-pointers to enter the program's all-time top 10 in career treys. Senior forward Ethan Claycomb canned 5-of-7 shots and all four free throws in scoring 15 points with six rebounds, while junior guard Dylan Penn accounted for 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Junior guard Pedro Bradshaw hauled in eight rebounds.

Bellarmine's dominant first half was the biggest source of the landmark win. Less than four minutes into the contest, Claycomb sank a 3-pointer as the Knights raced out to a 14-4 lead. Sophomore guard Alec Pfriem nailed a trifecta to boost the advantage to 15 with about eight minutes left in the first half, and Claycomb knocked down a pair of free throws as the lead spiked to 39-18 at halftime.

"Our preparation was incredible, and they transferred it," Davenport said. "We had a great week in practice coming off two tough losses (in close fashion to ASUN preseason favorite Lipscomb). They weren't questioning themselves, they were determined."

Fleming buried a pair of 3-pointers to open the second half as Bellarmine's lead swelled to 27. However, Florida Gulf Coast refused to go away. With less than 10 minutes remaining, the Eagles cut — and kept — the Knights' advantage under 20.

With six minutes left, Florida Gulf Coast was within 12 before Fleming wheeled into the paint and hit a key jumper. Penn fired to junior guard Juston Betz for an easy transition basket to bump the lead to 14 with less than three minutes left. The closest the Eagles got was 10, as Fleming, Penn and Bradshaw combined to go 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final two minutes.

"This team trusts each other," Davenport said. "They were pulling for each other even when things weren't going great. All 15 of them — I'm proud of them."

Visiting Bellarmine will meet Florida Gulf Coast again at 7 p.m. (ET) Saturday.

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