FLORENCE, Ala. – The Bellarmine men's basketball team dropped a 69-53 decision Thursday night at CB&S Arena against Atlantic Sun foe North Alabama.

The two halves were polar opposites for the Knights (4-14, 0-3 ASUN). They shot 44.0 percent and hit four threes en route to a three-point halftime lead at 27-24. The strong shooting would not carry over after the intermission, however, as BU only shot 32.0 percent and was unable to keep up with North Alabama (7-9, 1-1 ASUN) in the second 20 minutes.

Peter Suder finished the game with team highs of 15 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Langdon Hatton scored 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting and Ben Johnson added 10 points, all in the second half.

Five Lions reached double figures in scoring, led by Jacari Lane's 16. Damian Forrest grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds.­­

The Knights controlled the game in the first half despite a slow start offensively. Bellarmine did not score their first bucket until Suder's three at the 16:41 mark. Suder would go on to hit his first four shots and score 10 of Bellarmine's first 13.

UNA hit only two of their first 11 field goals and shot 30.8 percent in the first half, but was able to trim the halftime margin to just three. Bellarmine led by as many as seven, but hit just one of their final seven field goal attempts in the first stanza.

The Lions came out blazing in the second half, using a 13-4 run to grab a nine-point advantage with 11:29 left after a three by Dallas Howell. Bellarmine hit their first two field goal attempts of the half, a layup by Hatton and a three by Tipton, to go up seven before hitting a 1-of-8 cold spell.

The onslaught would continue as Bellarmine never really found a rhythm in the second half, especially from behind the arc where they went just 2-for-13. Meanwhile, UNA gathered eight offensive rebounds off their 14 misses and scored 12 second-chance points. The Knights grabbed just three offensive rebounds for the game.

Bellarmine continues to be shorthanded and dressed just eight players. Landin Hacker is the latest Knight to be bitten by the injury bug after rolling his ankle in practice this week. Other key contributors Dezmond McKinney (shoulder) and Bash Wieland (finger) remain sidelined, as well.
Up next for Bellarmine is the middle game of a three-game road swing against Central Arkansas (5-13, 1-1 ASUN) on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. ET.