FORT MYERS, Fla. – Ben Johnson scored a game-high 21 points for Bellarmine Saturday night at Florida Gulf Coast, but the Knights fell to the Eagles 63-52.
 
Johnson was the lone Knight in double figures in the low-scoring affair. He finished 8-of-19 from the field, 3-of-11 from three. It was his fourth 20-point game this season, most on the team.
 
Both teams started ice cold from the field. The teams played for over seven minutes until the first media timeout, but Bellarmine (6-20, 2-9 ASUN) led just 8-7 at that point as they were shooting 25.0 percent and FGCU was shooting 21.4 percent.
 
FGCU (11-15, 5-6 ASUN) faced its largest deficit of six points at 24-18 following personal 5-0 run by Johnson with four minutes left in the first. The Eagles responded with an 11-4 run to take a 29-28 lead into halftime.
 
Langdon Hatton hit a three early in the second half to put Bellarmine up 33-32, but that would be their final lead of the night. A layup by Keeshawn Kellman 26 seconds later would give the Eagles the lead for good.
 
A dunk by Kellman with 5:13 left gave FGCU a nine-point lead at 54-45. It was one of three second-chance opportunities late in the game that Kellman would cash in, each dealing a blow to Bellarmine's chances. The Knights would make one last run, cutting the lead to four at 56-52 on a three-pointer by Johnson with 2:48 left, but those would be their final points of the game.
 
"Kellman killed us. We did a horrible job of keeping the ball out of the post and defending the ball when it got in the post," said Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport.
 
Kellman finished with 17 points, as did Dallion Johnson. Kellman was 8-of-11 from the field, all twos, while four of Johnson's five field goals were threes. Kellman also finished with 11 rebounds to give him his seventh double-double of the season.
 
FGCU outrebounded Bellarmine 41-28, 9-4 on the offensive glass leading to a 13-5 advantage in second-chance points. The Eagles also outscored the Knights 34-22 in the paint.
 
Bash Wieland's double-digit scoring streak was halted at 11 games as he finished with just six points on 4-of-5 shooting. Hatton and Garrett Tipton both finished with nine points.

The loss delivers a significant blow to Bellarmine's chances of making the Atlantic Sun tournament. They are now a full two games behind Kennesaw State, Jacksonville and Queens, who are all tied for ninth at 4-7 in league play, with five games to play. The top 10 of the 12 ASUN teams make the conference tournament. FGCU is now a game ahead of the ninth-place trio at 5-6, tied with Central Arkansas for seventh.
 
The Knights return to action next Saturday, Feb. 17 against in-state foe Eastern Kentucky, who is currently first in the ASUN at 9-2. The home game will be on campus at Knights Hall.
 
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