CHARLOTTE, NC — Freshman guard Ben Johnson made sure the Bellarmine University men's basketball team remained within striking distance in the first half.

And, boy, did the Knights ever strike in the second half.

Johnson poured in a game-high 29 points, sophomore forward Langdon Hatton joined him in providing a massive lift off the bench and senior guard Garrett Tipton took over down the stretch as Bellarmine was nearly unstoppable offensively after halftime in an 88-84 win over Queens in ASUN action Saturday afternoon in Curry Arena.

"The last thing we put on the board today (before the game) was 'This is going to take everybody,' and it's amazing how much everyone contributed defensively in the second half," Knights Coach Scott Davenport said. "You pick all the parts and we don't win the game without one guy playing great."

For the second time in three games, Johnson buried seven 3-pointers for Bellarmine (12-15, 7-7 ASUN), which delivered a resilient effort against Queens (16-11, 6-8) after suffering a lopsided loss Thursday at Liberty in which the Knights trailed by a large margin at the intermission. BU fell behind the Royals by 11 in the first half, but Johnson came off the bench to drill five of his six 3-points attempts before the break in scoring 17 points to help cut the deficit to 38-32.

"And his 29 points came in only 24 minutes and off of just 16 shots," Davenport noted.

Hatton's performance could not be overestimated. He entered after starting sophomore forward Curt Hopf was injured less than two minutes into the game and provided a stout inside presence in a season-high 33 minutes. Hatton registered season bests of 14 points and three blocks and was one rebound shy of a season high with eight while going 6-for-9 from the floor.

"Let's talk about him," Davenport said of Hatton. "We have seen this evolve from high school to William & Mary to us. He got some big-boy rebounds tonight."

Bellarmine's offense was exacting in the second half. The Knights shot 63.3 percent after making 19 of their 30 attempts from the field in the final stanza. They were also 5-for-9 from 3-point range and sank 15-of-17 from the charity stripe while outscoring Queens 56-46 after the intermission.

"In the first half, we had a hard time — we couldn't finish at the rim," Davenport said. "At the end of the game, (we had a 38-32 advantage) in points in the paint. …We wanted to rebound and make it a 5-on-4 game and never let the floor settle in the second half, and it didn't. We wanted (Queens) to be put in position to chase the ball and we wanted to get it inside-out, and finish inside, and we did."

Hatton blocked a shot and ran the floor for a go-ahead fast-break dunk off a feed from senior guard Alec Pfriem that triggered a 7-0 run that provided Bellarmine a 73-66 lead with 5:13 left. Queens, which did a lot of its second-half scoring damage from the free-throw line (17-of-20), got back within 75-73 with 2:55 remaining on a traditional three-point play by AJ McKee, who had a team-high 24 points while Kenny Dye added 23 behind 12-for-13 accuracy from the charity stripe.

Tipton racked up 18 of his 22 points in the second half. He sank a baseline jumper and, after Queens missed a 3-pointer, canned a tough fadeaway in the lane. Following another defensive stop, Tipton drained a pair of free throws for an 81-73 lead with 1:02 left.

"Garrett Tipton, in terms of big-shot offense, took the game over," Davenport said. "And he goes to the line with unbelievable confidence."

Senior guard Juston Betz, who distributed a game-high seven assists, combined with Tipton and Pfriem to hit 7-of-8 from the line inside the final minute to ice the victory. Betz, Pfriem and freshman guard Peter Suder grabbed six boards each as Bellarmine crucially outrebounded Queens 36-32, including 20-13 in the second half.

Bellarmine will host North Alabama at 7:30 p.m. (ET) Thursday in the KFC Yum! Center.

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow us on Twitter (@BUKnights), Instagram (BUKnights) and Facebook (BUKnights).