FLORENCE, Ala.—The Bellarmine Knights never trailed in defeating the North Alabama Lions 75-69 on the road in an ASUN Conference game at Flowers Hall on Saturday.
 
Despite never trailing, the Knights couldn't seem to pull away from the host Lions with the largest lead of 10 points coming in the last two minutes. 
 
A 32-32 game at halftime, Bellarmine picked up the pace both offensively and defensively in the second period.  On the offensive end, the Knights hit 50 percent from the field, including making five of 10 triples.  On the defensive end, they did it with rebounding, limiting the Lions to just one offensive rebound in the second half, and no second chance points.
 
In his postgame radio comments, Coach Scott Davenport not only praised his players, but gave assistant coaches Beau Braden, Doug Davenport and Al Davis credit for helping the Knights come up with a sound defensive scheme. 
 
"This win—we've made some defensive adjustments—this win goes to Beau and Doug and Al for teaching one-on-one defense in the post, what we call a wall," said the head coach. 
 
"We won the game, in my opinion, by not allowing any second shots," Davenport added.
 
CJ Fleming paced the Bellarmine attack with 24 points, and the graduate student from Cincinnati led the Knights' second half efficiency by draining five of his six shots after halftime, including all three of his triples.
 
Senior guard Dylan Penn switched from being the scorer to the distributor in the second half.  After scoring nine points in the first half, the Evansville native scored six in the second half but handed out six assists to finish with eight helpers on the day.
 
Freshman Curt Hopf set a new career high with nine rebounds to tie Juston Betz for team-high honors. Ethan Claycomb, whose minutes were limited due to foul trouble, added 11 points to give the Knights three players in double figures.
 
North Alabama was led by guard C.J. Brim's 18 points while Will Soucie recorded a game-high 10 rebounds.
 
With the win, Bellarmine improves to 15-11 overall and 9-3 in league play, which is tied for first place in the ASUN West Division due to Jacksonville State's loss to Central Arkansas today. 
 
The Bears of UCA have the chance to be "giant killers" of the West as Bellarmine's next game is in Conway, Arkansas on Wednesday.  In their first meeting this year, the Knights took an 85-63 victory over Central Arkansas in Freedom Hall behind a 38-point performance from Penn.