LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Bellarmine men's basketball team finished their Senior Day game Saturday afternoon on 20-7 run to put away North Alabama in an 82-70 win at Freedom Hall.
The victory keeps the Knights (8-21, 4-10 ASUN) alive in their bid to earn a spot in the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament near the end of a season marred by injuries and adversity. The top 10 in the standings make the conference tournament and the Knights currently sit at 12
th in a jumbled bottom third. Bellarmine (four wins, two to play) is a half-game behind Central Arkansas (five wins, one to play), one game behind Jacksonville (five wins, two to play) and one-and-a-half games behind Kennesaw State (six wins, one to play). Central Arkansas currently owns the tiebreaker over Bellarmine, but the Knights can steal that with a win over Lipscomb on Wednesday. Bellarmine owns the head-to-head tiebreakers over Jacksonville and Kennesaw State.
Five Knights finished in double figures, led by
Ben Johnson's 18. The sophomore guard did not need the last-second heroics that he displayed with a buzzer-beating three on Thursday night as Bellarmine controlled the final six minutes, getting to the rim with ease and hitting six of their final seven shots. The Lions briefly took a 63-62 lead on a pair of free throws by Will Soucie with 6:20 to play before Bellarmine went on their big run. The Knights shot 61.5 percent in the second half and 51.9 percent for the game.
Junior guard
Dezmond McKinney played the role of X-factor, coming off the bench to score 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, grabbing eight rebounds and helping lock down the Lions' guards as they cashed in just two field goals over the final six minutes. McKinney had scored just two points in each of Bellarmine's previous four games.
Langdon Hatton finished with 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting, hitting multiple threes for the first time since Feb. 1 at Kennesaw State. The junior forward also blocked multiple shots for the second straight game and grabbed eight rebounds.
Senior guard
Bash Wieland added 15 points on 4-of-5 shooting and sophomore guard
Peter Suder scored 10 points.
Josiah Fulcher and Will Soucie each tallied 15 points for the visiting Lions, who fell to 7-8 in ASUN play.
Bellarmine visits the Volunteer State for their final two regular season games next week. They first visit Nashville to take on Lipscomb Wednesday and then head to Clarksville to take on Austin Peay on Friday. Both games will tip off at 8 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and ESPN680.
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