NOTRE DAME, Ind. – After a solid start that saw Bellarmine leading Notre Dame on the road by five late in the first half, the Knights fell behind, then battled valiantly in the second before the Irish were able to hang on for an 86-79 win Wednesday night at Purcell Pavilion.
 
Bellarmine (1-4) finished the game on a 31-16 run that included 14 of Michael Wilson Jr.'s 17 points to make things interesting for Notre Dame (4-1), who led by 22 with 6:50 remaining.
 
Five Knights surpassed double digits, the most this season, led by Brian Waddell's 18. Jack Karasinski had 17 to match Wilson while Myles Watkins supplied 11 and Kenyon Goodin netted 10.
 
The Knights opened the game confidently after leading early, trailing and retaking a 21-19 lead with eight minutes remaining in the first half. The Knights would then build a five-point advantage, their largest of the game, at 26-21 after Kenyon Goodin cashed three free throws.
 
From there, the Irish raced to a 37-30 halftime lead, aided by a 12-0 run with six points coming from Jalen Haralson and a Bellarmine scoring drought spanning nearly four and a half minutes.
 
Notre Dame's Markus Burton went into the locker room with 16 first-half points, including six in the final four minutes, to lead all scorers after 20 minutes.
 
Notre Dame created some separation when they started the second stanza on 10-1 run. The Irish would build their 22-point lead with the help of six Bellarmine turnovers in the first 10-plus minutes of the second half.
 
Once the Knights were able to nix the turnover bug, they began putting together solid offensive possessions and made nine consecutive field goals over the final 7:38, including four threes.
 
A pair of Myles Watkins free throws brought Bellarmine to within five at 84-79 with 17 seconds left, but Burton would ice it with a pair of freebies on the other end.
 
In fact, Notre Dame's final 12 points were scored at the free throw line. Their last field goal came with 4:34 remaining and put them up by 18 at 74-56.
 
For the game, the Knights shot 54.3 percent and went 7-for-22 from deep (31.8 percent). The Irish were slightly better at 57.1 percent and 7-for-19 from three (36.8 percent). Perhaps the difference in the game was on the offensive glass where Notre Dame held a 9-2 advantage leading to a 12-2 advantage in second-chance points.
 
Burton led the Irish with a season-high 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Haralson added 16 and Carson Towt posted his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Towt has reached double-digit rebounds in all five of Notre Dame's games.
 
Bellarmine is back in action Monday when they visit Charleston, S.C., to face The Citadel in their second game arranged by the ASUN/SoCon scheduling alliance.
 
For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow the Knights on X, Instagram and Facebook.