LOUISVILLE, Ky. – In what has been an overwhelmingly tough campaign for the Bellarmine men's basketball team in 2024-25, one thing they have refused to do is quit. The Knights carried the momentum from their 26-point beatdown of Austin Peay on Tuesday over to Thursday to help them to an 80-74 win over in-state rival Eastern Kentucky, finishing their home slate in their return season to Knights Hall with a pair of emphatic wins.
 
Bellarmine was able to establish a comfortable buffer between themselves and EKU in the final two minutes of the first half and maintain it throughout much of the second half, leading by as many as 16. The visitors from Richmond would make a push in the final minutes, but the Knights hit six of their last eight late free throws to seal the win.
 
EKU entered on an eight-game winning streak, sitting at 11-4 and tied for second in the ASUN, before suffering their first loss since January 23.
 
It was an ensemble of top performers for Bellarmine in the win. Perhaps the Knights' most consistent player this season, junior guard Billy Smith, turned in another big night and led all scorers with 23 points, playing nearly the entire 40 minutes.
 
Also coming on late in the year for Bellarmine have been junior guard Myles Watkins, redshirt junior guard Landin Hacker and freshman guard Tyler Doyle.
 
Watkins netted 19 points to match his performance Tuesday night against Austin Peay when he established his career high, now achieved twice this week. The Frisco, Texas, native also swished a career-high three three-pointers. Doyle added 11 points and has now reached double figures in five of his last seven games. Hacker scored 10 points and has now reached double figures three games in a row for the first time in his career.
 
After a slow start offensively for both teams, Bellarmine would build a 29-22 lead late in the first half with the help of a 9-0 run capped by a Watkins corner three. EKU responded with a 6-0 run, but the Knights regained momentum to finish the half with an 8-0 run that included a pair of threes by Smith to hold a 37-28 halftime lead. The junior guard went into the locker room with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 3 of 6 from three.
 
After a flagrant 1 foul was whistled against Dezmond McKinney with Knights up 47-37 and 15:45 left, EKU rattled off a quick 5-0 spurt after the free throws and a made three and looked poised to make a run. The Knights, however, quashed that momentum with an 8-2 run featuring four layups to go back up 55-44.
 
Over the final 11:47, the Knights connected on 7 of 12 shots, 3 of 5 threes, before putting the game away at the line.
 
The Knights were again without Kenyon Goodin (12.7 PPG over the last nine games) for a second straight game and Ben Johnson (11.4 PPG) for the 11^th time in 12 games. Still, they shot 54.0 percent to EKU's 36.4 percent.
 
For EKU, star Devontae Blanton came in averaging 16.7 PPG, but was held to just two field goals and five points. The Colonels were also playing without George Kimble III (18.0 PPG), who missed his fourth straight game. Tyler Buttry, a former Kentucky Mr. Basketball, finished with a team-high 22 points.
 
Bellarmine heads back to the Sunshine State for their final two games of the season. They will visit Stetson on Monday in DeLand, Fla., and then take on Florida Gulf Coast in Ft. Myers on Wednesday. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and ESPN 680/105.7.
 
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