DELAND, Fla. – After finishing their home schedule with a pair of wins over Austin Peay and Eastern Kentucky, the Bellarmine men's basketball team is back in the Sunshine State to close their 2024-25 campaign.
 
The Knights first visit Stetson on Monday before heading to Ft. Myers on Wednesday to take on Florida Gulf Coast. Tipoff for both games is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+ and ESPN 680/105.7.
 
About Stetson
Stetson (NET No. 355) sits ninth in the ASUN at 5-11, 7-22 overall, and will be looking to secure their spot in the ASUN Championship with a win. The Hatters won the conference tournament last season as the 2-seed and represented the ASUN in the NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national champion Connecticut in the first round.
 
The Hatters are near the bottom of the ASUN in both offense (10^th at 71.7 points per game) and defense (11^th at 81.3 points allowed per game) during conference play. Four players are average double-digit scoring in junior guard Mehki Ellison (14.6 points, 12^th in ASUN), fifth-year forward Jordan Wood (12.4), senior forward Josh Massey (11.9) and freshman guard Jamie Phillips Jr. (10.9).
 
In the first meeting between Stetson and Bellarmine at Knights Hall, a 13-2 Knights run to begin the second half erased an 11-point Stetson lead, but the Hatters won 81-76 after closing the game on a 14-6 run. Treyton Thompson, who is averaging 4.0 points on the season, scored a game-high 23 points on 7-for-8 shooting, 3-for-4 from deep. Jack Karasinski led Bellarmine with 21 while Billy Smith and Kenyon Goodin added 14 apiece.
 
Bellarmine is 3-4 all-time against Stetson and won 72-47 in their only previous trip to the Edmunds Center on January 27, 2022.
 
Davenport on the Hatters
"We as a staff are incredibly proud and impressed with our players and their resilience, dedication and belief in our program. We are coming off two great wins and now take on the defending ASUN Conference champion Stetson on the road. In game one, Stetson was dominant on the offensive end and we had no answer. They are coached like champions, and it shows!" –Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport
 
About Florida Gulf Coast
Florida Gulf Coast (NET No. 170) is tied with EKU for third in the ASUN at 11-5, 16-13 overall, and will host North Florida Monday before the Knights visit Alico Arena on Wednesday. Entering play Monday, FGCU still has a slim shot at an outright ASUN regular season title with a pair of wins this week and two losses each from North Alabama and Lipscomb plus at least one loss by EKU.
 
The Eagles are led in scoring by senior guard Dallion Johnson, who is averaging 14.6 points (11^th in the ASUN) and shooting .364 from beyond the arc (3^rd in the ASUN). Fifth-year forward Keeshawn Kellman leads the ASUN with his .601 field goal percentage. The Princeton transfer in his second season at FGCU is also 2^nd in the league averaging 1.2 blocks and 6^th averaging 7.1 rebounds. As a team, the Eagles lead the ASUN shooting .486 in conference play and are 6^th in offense at 76.0 points per game and 4^th in defense allowing 71.1 points per game.
 
On January 23 in Knights Hall, FGCU shot .536 from the field and sank 13 of 27 three-point attempts in a 77-61 win. Johnson led all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-16 shooting, 8-for-14 from three. Four Knights registered double-digit points, led by Smith's 16.
 
The Knights are 5-2 all-time against the Eagles, including a 3-1 mark in Ft. Myers, though they dropped a 63-52 decision during their last visit to Alico Arena on February 10, 2024.

Davenport on the Eagles
"FGCU is the complete package! They have a veteran team starting two graduates, a senior and two juniors. They pose challenges inside and outside with tremendous balance scoring in multiple ways. They are a team with a tremendous yearlong resume. We must play a complete game for 40 minutes at both ends of the court."
 
Last Week
Bellarmine blew out Austin Peay Tuesday night in Knights Hall by a 94-68 final and then backed that up with an 80-74 win over in-state rival EKU in their home finale.
 
Against APSU, the Knights used a 34-8 run in the first half, a spurt that included a 17-0 run, to take command en route to a 50-19 halftime lead. The Knights hit 21 of 30 shots in the first (.700), including 7 of 11 threes (.636). Their first half performance marked the best of any half of the season both in terms of points scored and points allowed against a D-I opponent. The Governors would outscore Bellarmine 49-44 in the second half, but it would not be nearly enough to close the gap. APSU was shooting .527 over their previous three entering Tuesday, but shot just .339 on the night.
 
Against the Colonels, Bellarmine was able to establish a comfortable buffer in the final two minutes of the first half and maintain it throughout much of the second, leading by as many as 16. EKU made a push in the final minutes, but Bellarmine hit 6 of their last 8 late free throws to seal the win.
 
Turning Up the Heat
Bellarmine held APSU and EKU to a combined .352 shooting percentage (44 for 125) during their wins last week. The Knights held APSU (.339) to the lowest field goal percentage of any opponent this season. EKU (.364) posted the second-lowest field goal percentage among BU's D-I opponents. (Bellarmine held NAIA Midway to .353.)
 
One for the Ages
The 26-point win over APSU was Bellarmine's largest over a D-I opponent, passing their 25-point win at Stetson (72-47) on January 27, 2022. Their 33-point lead at 63-30 with 13:16 left in the game was their largest lead against a D-I opponent this season; Their previous high was a 19-pointt lead on November 13 against Southern Indiana. Bellarmine had not scored 50 points in a half against a D-I opponent since their 85-67 win at Bowling Green on November 17, 2023. They had also not held any opponent under 20 points in a half since keeping Jacksonville to 19 in the first half during a 69-63 win on January 27, 2024.
 
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