LOUISVILLE, Ky.—After getting back into the win column with an impressive 61-41 triumph over Florida Gulf Coast University on Saturday, the Bellarmine men's basketball team embarks on a two-game ASUN Conference road trip to Tennessee this week with stops at Austin Peay on Thursday night and at Lipscomb on Saturday.
 
In traveling to Clarksville for Thursday's 7 p.m. (8 p.m. ET) game, Bellarmine will be taking on a newcomer to the conference while re-kindling an old rivalry.  Austin Peay, who were long-time members of the Ohio Valley Conference, used to square off with Knights regularly, meeting 17 times in the 1960s and '70s.  Their last meeting came in December of 1974.  Now, with Bellarmine's rise to Division I and APSU's switch of league affiliations, the two will kick off a new rivalry.
 
Austin Peay (8-11, 2-4) is coached by Nate James, a former Duke Blue Devil and long-time assistant under Mike Krzyzewski. In fact, James was on hand for Bellarmine's D1 debut as the Knights played Duke in their first-ever D1 game on Dec. 4, 2020 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. 
 
Now in his second year at APSU, James is getting the most production out of pair of second-year players from Putnam Science Academy in Connecticut.  Sean Durugordon, a 6-5 redshirt sophomore, is pacing the Governors' offense with a 13.2 points per game average while hauling in 6.2 rebounds per game. Elijah Hutchins-Everett, a 6-11 sophomore center, matches Durugordon's rebounding effort while adding 12.7 points per game.
 
On Saturday, the Knights stay in northern Tennessee to face the Lipscomb Bisons (11-8, 3-3 ASUN) in Nashville at 4 p.m. (5 p.m. ET).  Bellarmine and the Bisons have met five times in the D1 era, with the Knights holding 3-2 edge, including both games played at Lipscomb's Allen Arena. 
 
On Saturday, the Knights will face a veteran team led by 6-7 forward Jacob Ognacevic, who is in his second year at Lipscomb after starting his career at Valparaiso.  The athletic forward is putting up 15.9 points per game (4^th in the ASUN) while grabbing 3.8 rebounds per game.
 
In the backcourt, third-year guard Will Pruitt is averaging 10.6 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and Trae Benham is the leading Lipscomb 3-point shooter with 38 made so far this season. Another seasoned player for the Bisons is 6-10, 275-pound Ahsan Asadullah, a 3-time All-ASUN honoree.  The big man is having another strong season, leading the team in rebounding (6.6 rpg) and assists (3.4 apg) while adding 7.9 points per game.
 
Lipscomb also has several transfers making an impact with former Georgetown College Tiger and Kentucky native Derrin Boyd averaging 9.5 points and former Cincinnati Bearcat AJ McGinnis adding 6.4 per game.
 
For Bellarmine (8-11, 3-3 ASUN), redshirt senior Garret Tipton continues lead the Knights in the scoring column with an average of 12.5 points per game.  Graduate student Juston Betz, meanwhile, remains the team leader in assists (3.5 apg) and rebounds (4.9 rpg).  The 6-3 guard is coming off a big game against FGCU in which he flirted with a triple double, scoring 11 points, grabbing eight rebounds, and coming up with seven steals. The seven steals fell just one short of the program record while propelling Betz to 10^th on BU's all-time steals list with 111 for his career.
 
Redshirt freshman Ben Johnson is averaging just a shade under double digits at 9.9 per game, and he is the Bellarmine leader in 3-pointers with 36 made.  Sophomore Curt Hopf is second on the team in triples, making 30 while shooting better than 41 percent from beyond the arc.  The 6-8 forward is averaging 8.4 points and 3.5 rebounds.  Freshman Peter Suder, meanwhile, is contributing in all areas, putting up 8.6 points, 3.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game.
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).