LOUISVILLE, Ky.—In just its second year in the league, the Bellarmine men's basketball team earned the right to host the ASUN Conference Championship game, and the Knights will play the Jacksonville Dolphins at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 8 in Freedom Hall for the league title.
 
Both Bellarmine and Jacksonville are No. 2 seeds (BU from the West Division, JU from the East), and both defeated No. 1 seeds on their home courts in Saturday's semifinals to set up the title matchup.
 
The Knights took down the East's top seed, defeating the Liberty University 53-50 to hang a loss on the Flames for the first time ever in ASUN tourney play.
 
Jacksonville took down the No. 1 overall seed Jacksonville State on Saturday, as the Dolphins also earned a 3-point win (54-51) on Saturday.
 
Bellarmine got the hosting edge by virtue of winning its head-to-head meeting with Jacksonville, a 76-73 overtime win on Jan. 22. In that contest, neither team led by more than six points the entire game, and there were nine ties and eight lead changes over the course of 45 minutes. 
 
The three players in that game who went on to earn ASUN All-Conference honors were the game's leading scorers.  Dylan Penn poured in 29 for the Knights with backcourt mate CJ Fleming adding 25.  For the Dolphins, Kevion Nolan tallied 21.
 
With Bellarmine officially still in its transition phase to Division I and ineligible to compete in the NCAA tournament, a victory for the Knights would mean that the automatic bid would revert to the regular season overall champion, Jacksonville State.
 
A victory for the Dolphins would stamp their ticket to the big dance for the first time since 1986.
 
FAN INFORMATION:
 
TELEVISION: The game will be broadcast on ESPN 2 with Mike Corey and Bob Valvano announcing
TICKETS:  All tickets are $15 ($5 student/child) and available through Ticketmaster: https://www.ticketmaster.com/bellarmine-university-knights-mens-basketball-tickets/artist/1365473
PARKING: Free…Bellarmine Athletics is providing free parking for all fans
ARRIVAL: Fans are encouraged to arrive early

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