KENNESAW, Ga. — The efficiency with which the Bellarmine University men's basketball team operated to erase a 20-point second-half deficit in a victory last Saturday against Stetson seemed to carry over into just about the entire game Friday at Kennesaw State.

Bellarmine built a commanding lead at halftime, shot 57.6 percent for the game and got big scoring efforts from junior guard Pedro Bradshaw and sophomore guard Alec Pfriem in an 84-67 win over the Owls in ASUN action in the KSU Convocation Center.

"The first 35 minutes was incredibly good basketball," Knights Coach Scott Davenport said.

By that point, Bellarmine (8-5, 5-2 ASUN), which won for the fifth straight time, had built an insurmountable lead against Kennesaw State (3-14, 0-9). After the Owls took a 4-0 lead, the Knights responded with a 14-0 run capped by a tomahawk dunk by sophomore forward Nick Thelen off a steal and feed from senior guard CJ Fleming.

Bellarmine never really looked back after that. Senior forward Ethan Claycomb boosted the first-half lead to 21 with about five minutes left with a jumper in the paint, and Bradshaw spiked it to 26 on another interior basket. The Knights piled up 56 points in the paint for the game.

Bellarmine's advantage after halftime would max out at 35. After shooting a mind-boggling 84 percent (21-for-25) in the second half of their epic comeback win over Stetson, the Knights shot a sizzling 60.6 percent in the first stanza against Kennesaw State. Bellarmine followed by shooting 53.4 percent in the second half against the Owls despite a forgettable last few minutes and recorded 19 assists on 35 baskets.

"This was a great win," Davenport said. "We shot with great confidence today."

Pfriem, who Davenport referred to as a "consummate warrior," racked up a career-high 21 points on 7-for-9 shooting from the field and 6-for-6 accuracy from the charity stripe. Bradshaw matched him with 21 points — one shy of his career high — on 9-for-13 shooting with six rebounds and three assists.

Junior guard Dylan Penn hit 6-of-9 shots in scoring 14 points and Claycomb chipped in 12. Junior guard Juston Betz grabbed a career-best six rebounds, and Fleming had three of Bellarmine's 12 steals, many of which came in the first half and were instrumental in the Knights building a sizable lead.

Bellarmine and Kennesaw State will meet again at 4 p.m. (ET) Saturday.

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