LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Bellarmine men's basketball team returns to action Wednesday at Knights Hall when they host Midway at 7 p.m. ET.
 
The Knights have not played since Tuesday when they handled Houston Christian in the second game of their multi-team event in Charleston, S.C. The 74-69 victory gave them a sweep of the event following their 70-58 defeat of host The Citadel on Monday, November 24.
 
If Bellarmine was eager to get back on the court following a pair of wins on back-to-back days, that eagerness unfortunately had to be held in check for longer than expected as a winter storm forced the cancelation of Bellarmine's next scheduled contest this past Saturday at Northern Illinois.
 
As it is, it will be a full week off from game action before the Knights welcome in-state foe Midway (3-4) to Louisville for the third straight season and the sixth time overall. The game will be the Bellarmine's first game at Knights Hall since November 15, marking one of two 17 spans between home games.
 
The Eagles, of the NAIA River States Conference, have dropped all five previous meetings with Bellarmine by an average of 40.4 points. Last year, Bellarmine defeated their neighbors from 61 miles to the east by a 101-60 final as all 14 Knights who dressed scored and all but one made a field goal. Jack Karasinski scored a game-high 15 points and Myles Watkins added 10 as the Knights shot 58.5 percent (38-for-65) from the field.
 
Midway is led by head coach Akeem Scott in his third year (21-36). The Eagles feature a trio of guards averaging double-digit points in junior Amari Wales (17.9 PPG), senior Decoreio Smith (15.7 PPG) and junior Sarvell Barksdale (11.7 PPG). Wales is also the leading rebounder at 5.1 per game and distributor with 4.4 assists per game.
 
After a pair of tough losses to power conference teams to start the season, Bellarmine has shot the ball well en route to a 3-2 record since. Against Georgia and Kansas State, the Knights shot a combined .432 from the field, 241st nationally after the completion of games on November 8. Now, after shooting .543 over their last five games, the Knights lead the ASUN and rank 31st nationally shooting 50.8 percent. A pair of senior forwards are, in large part, to thank for that surge. Brian Waddell is tops in the conference shooting 62.9 percent and Karasinski is right behind him in 2nd at 57.5 percent. Karasinski leads the league in scoring at 20.8 PPG.
 
With a win, Bellarmine would reach 4-4, marking the first time in the program's Division I era (since 2020-21) that the Knights were at or above .500 after eight games. Bellarmine has not been at .500 at any point since they started the 2022-23 season 2-2. Also with a win, the Knights would secure their first three-game winning streak since early December 2022 when they handled Alice Lloyd (NAIA), Wabash (Division III) and Murray State in succession.
 
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