KENNESAW, Ga. – For 44 minutes and 56 seconds of game time Thursday night as the KSU Convocation Center, you could say Ben Johnson was not the star of the show.
 
But, with 0.7 seconds left on the clock in overtime, he became just that when he downed a game-winning three-pointer to lift Bellarmine to a stunning 96-95 win over favored Kennesaw State.
 
The Knights, down one with four seconds to go, were inbounding from the right side, just inside halfcourt. Bash Wieland heaved his pass high to get it over the Owls' defender guarding the inbounds pass. Peter Suder had to make a wide receiver-ish grab on the far side of the court and make a quick two-handed shovel pass to Johnson as he was landing and colliding with a KSU defender. Johson was able to dribble once moving to his left as he went around Suder before throwing up his shot from the left shoulder and splashing it in with under a second to play.
 
The Owls' heave to the other end was well short and Bellarmine (6-17, 2-6 ASUN) secured their second straight win.
 
Johnson finished with 16 points, hitting on 4-of-6 threes, including one from the edge of the logo at center court with 1:53 left in overtime that put BU up six and looked like it may seal the win. Kennesaw State (13-9, 4-4 ASUN), however, battled back with a 9-0 run that included threes by Simeon Cottle and Quincy Ademokoya to take the lead with eight seconds remaining before Johnson's heroics.

But, despite playing the role of hero, Johnson was just Bellarmine's fourth-leading scorer on this night. Leading the charge for BU for most of the night were Bash Wieland and Langdon Hatton. Hatton finished with a career-high 27 points and 12 rebounds, good for his second double-double in ASUN play and fifth of the season. He was 11-for-17 from the field and a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. He is shooting a whopping 60.3 percent from the field over his last seven games.
 
Wieland also set a new career high with 25 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Garrett Tipton added 19.
 
Both Hatton and Tipton had fouled out and were not scoring options on the final play.
 
Everything seemed to be going right for the Knights early in the game. They started 4-of-5 from three, Suder hit an unorthodox jumper off the glass to beat the shot clock and they led 21-9 in the first as KSU went without a field goal for over five minutes.
 
The Owls would battle back to take the lead and then some with a 34-15 run to go up seven with 2:44 remaining in the first. BU, however, responded with a 9-0 run to end the half up 45-43 as Wieland beat the buzzer with a long two.
 
The second half was equally as competitive as there were nine lead changes and neither team held an advantage larger than four points after the 13-minute mark. Nineteen of Hatton's 27 points came in the second.
 
BU had a chance to take the lead with 59 second left with Hatton made one of his many solid series of moves on the night to maneuver to the basket, but was unable to connect on a challenged layup, forcing the extra period.
 
As a team, Bellarmine shot 50.0 percent both from two (23-for-46) and from three (11-for-22). KSU shot 45.3 percent from the field, but their woeful 12-for-24 clip at the free throw line helped Bellarmine remain close despite committing 20 fouls.
 
Ademokoya led the Owls with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, 4-of-11 from three. Star guard Terrell Burden scored 16 points, but the Knights held him to just 4-of-16 shooting. He did dish out 13 assists, six more than any opposing player has had against BU this year.
 
After a four-hour drive to Charlotte, Bellarmine will return to the floor Saturday afternoon at Queens (9-14, 3-5). Despite their sub-.500 record, the Royals throttled ASUN-leading Eastern Kentucky on Thursday, 94-76. Tipoff from Curry Arena is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET with live coverage on ESPN+ and ESPN680.