LOUISVILLE, Ky.—The Bellarmine men's basketball team dropped a 71-67 decision to the visiting Miami RedHawks in a nonconference game in Freedom Hall on Saturday evening. 
 
The game was close throughout with neither team leading by more than six points. It was also a game in which neither team could establish a flow thanks in large part to 44 fouls being whistled in the game. The RedHawks closed the game with a 16-6 run over the final 4:13 to snatch the victory away from the Knights.
 
"It's very disappointing," said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. "Our goal at halftime was to win five, four-minute segments.  It's a three-point game, and we tie (one segment), win three, and get outscored in the last one 16-6.  That's the game, there's no ifs ands or buts."
 
The Knights shot the ball very well, connecting on 56 percent of their shots, but the high shooting percentage was offset by committing an uncharacteristic 18 turnovers.
 
On defense, Bellarmine held Miami to just 41 percent shooting, but RedHawks offset that by draining 23 of 29 free throws.  Miami point guard Michael Lairy, who poured in a game-high 30 points, made as many free throws as the Knights shot.  Lairy was 14 of 16 from the charity stripe while Bellarmine attempted 14, sinking them all.
 
Redshirt freshman Ben Johnson came off the bench to pace the Knights scoring attack, finishing with 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting.  Bellarmine saw three players reach double figures with Garrett Tipton adding 17 and Juston Betz chipping in 12.  Peter Suder was the game's leading rebounder with six.
 
For Miami, Lairy not only was the scoring leader, but he dished out a game-high five assists.  Morgan Safford added 14 points and five rebounds for the RedHawks, who improved to 5-6 on the season.
 
Bellarmine, which fell to 5-7 overall, plays its final nonconference game on Wednesday when the Knights travel to the Ford Center to take on the Purple Aces of Evansville for an 8 p.m. (7 p.m. CT) contest.
 
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