FLORENCE, Ala. — It's become a Saturday ritual. The Bellarmine University men's basketball team broke out the broom once again.
For the fifth straight weekend in ASUN action, the Knights swept their opponent, this time with start-to-finish dominance in an 87-63 victory over North Alabama on Saturday night in Flowers Hall.
"It was a heck of a performance," Knights Coach
Scott Davenport said. "We were sharp. We were really crisp. That's the best Saturday game we've played without a doubt."
It could probably be argued it's the best game Bellarmine (13-5, 10-2 ASUN) has played thus far, period. The league-leading Knights pushed their winning streak to 10 after shooting 55.7 percent, establishing dominance from the outset against North Alabama (10-8, 6-6) while shooting 62.5 percent in a first half that ended with them carrying a 54-31 lead.
On Friday, the Lions cut a 17-point second-half deficit to a one-possession 66-64 loss after commanding much of the final 10 minutes. That didn't happen Saturday, as Bellarmine's lead swelled to 30 five minutes into the second half and remained that large with five minutes left.
"This was an awesome road trip," Davenport said. "North Alabama is athletic and tough and came out raining 3s. We never lost our focus and concentration. It was impressive."
North Alabama drained nine 3-pointers in the first half — the problem for the Lions was they totaled only 10 total field goals. For the game, North Alabama collected just seven two-point baskets, with 13 of their 20 coming from 3-point land. The Lions also struggled to take care of the ball, committing 27 turnovers.
Bellarmine, meanwhile, piled up 20 made field goals in the first half, with five coming from deep. The Knights bolted out to an 11-0 lead and never looked back. They had a decisive 36-12 advantage in points in the paint and amassed a massive 42 points off turnovers.
Junior guard
Dylan Penn paced Bellarmine with 17 points, five assists and four rebounds. Senior forward
Ethan Claycomb drained a trio of 3-pointers in scoring 15 points, junior guard
Pedro Bradshaw added 14 in 18 minutes and senior guard
CJ Fleming chipped in 11 with six rebounds. Junior guard
Juston Betz dished out five assists.
Bellarmine remains on the road and will play Friday and Saturday at North Florida.
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BOX SCORE (HTM)
