NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Bellarmine Knights men's basketball gave a valiant effort, but came up just short on the road in an 87-80 loss against the Lipscomb Bisons on Saturday evening.  With the loss, the Knights fall to 3-20 overall and 0-10 in ASUN conference play.

Jack Karasinski and Tyler Doyle got things going early on, scoring the first two buckets of the game to give the Knights an early 4-0 lead.  However, the Bisons responded with a 16-4 run to take an eight-point advantage.  Billy Smith cut into the lead with a three, but Lipscomb responded once again, going on a 9-2 run to take a 25-13 lead.  A converted and-one opportunity by Landin Hacker and a Doyle layup cut the lead to seven, but Lipscomb responded with an 11-4 run to take a 36-22 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the first half.  Not going away, the Knights clamped down on defense and began to get the ball out in transition and use their offensive sets to get open looks in the paint, leading to a 13-0 run capped by an AJ Lux three-pointer that made it a one-point game.  After a Bisons layup, Smith found an open lane and scored a driving layup to make it 38-37 at halftime.

After Lipscomb scored the first five points of the second half, layups by Smith and Myles Watkins, which sandwiched two Bisons free throws, brought the Knights back to within four.  Lipscomb responded with five straight points, but Watkins hit a three-pointer that sparked a 17-5 run that saw one converted and-one opportunity from Doyle, back-to-back converted and-ones from Karasinski, and was capped by five straight points from Watkins, giving Bellarmine a 58-55 advantage.  Lipscomb tied it up again with a three before a Curt Hopf deflection on the defensive end led to a fast break layup from Doyle to put Bellarmine back up 60-58.

Bellarmine's offense then went stagnant again, resulting in a 14-4 Lipscomb run that put the Knights back into an eight-point hole with just under five minutes to play.  Buckets from Smith, Watkins, and Doyle cut the lead back to two, and two Bisons free throws were answered with a corner three from Kenyon Goodin to make it a one-point game with 2:43 to go.  The Knights were not able to get over the hump however, as back-to-back Lipscomb threes in the waning seconds effectively put the game out of reach.  A Smith three-pointer with 10 seconds to go left the final deficit at seven.

Watkins set a new career-high with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting.  His seven made field goals were also a career-high.  Karasinski also scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting for his 16th double-digit effort in 17 games played this season.  Doyle tied his season high with 15 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field.  His field goal makes and attempts both set new season highs.  Smith scored 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, his sixth consecutive double-digit game and 17th overall in 22 games played this season.  Goodin led the Knights on the boards with seven rebounds to go along with nine points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field.  Lux contributed with seven points.

Despite the loss, Bellarmine outscored Lipscomb 54-22 in points in the paint and 26-11 in bench points.  

Up next, the Knights will continue their road stretch, as they head to the Sunshine State to take on the North Florida Ospreys on Thursday, February 6.  Tipoff is scheduled for 8 p.m.

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