LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Donovan Hunter scored eight points in the final 20 seconds of regulation and overtime, helping lift Bellarmine over Central Arkansas in an 84-78 thriller Thursday night.
 
Bellarmine (6-9, 1-2 ASUN) spoiled Central Arkansas' (7-9, 2-1 ASUN) perfect conference record in front of a raucous Knights Hall crowd for their ASUN home opener.
 
Hunter finished with a career-high 14 points, connecting 5 of 7 attempts, 4 of 6 from three. Two of his four triples came in overtime, including one straight away from well beyond the arc with 46 seconds left to give the Knights an 80-78 lead, putting them in front for good.
 
The freshman also pulled down a career-high six rebounds and matched a career high with two steals.
 
Battling cramps, Kenyon Goodin led the Knights with 20 points, 15 in the first half, on 8-for-16 shooting with four threes. ASUN leading scorer Jack Karasinski chipped in 17 and Brian Waddell added 15.
 
UCA came out hot, scoring the first five points and starting the game on an 11-3 run that included a trio of threes.
 
Bellarmine was able to keep it close with a trio of threes of their own by Karasinski, Goodin and Hunter to cut the Bears' lead to three at 14-11.
 
Nine of the Bears' first 10 field goals were long balls as they built a 29-19 lead. Ty Robinson, who entered the game as a 33.3-percent three-point shooter, hit his first four looks from beyond the arc.
 
Bellarmine, however, put together an 11-0 run as they hit four of five shots, including a pair of layups by Tyler Doyle. The Knights took their first lead after a pair of Karasinski free throws to make it 30-29 with 5:18 remaining in the first.
 
The Knights then battled back after a 5-0 UCA run to take a 39-38 lead into the locker room as they held UCA to one field goal over the final nine minutes of the first half. The Knights shot 62.5 percent in the first half and hit 6 of 13 threes (46.2 percent).
 
It was a sluggish start to the second half for both sides. Bellarmine won the first segment 4-2 as the teams combined to go 2-for-15 from the floor out of the break.
 
Later with the Knights leading 56-54, Bellarmine connected on three straight field goals to build a 62-56 lead with 6:30 to go. A Waddell three-point play with 4:17 remaining then gave the Knights a seven-point lead, their largest of the night at 65-58.
 
Undeterred, UCA would battle back, even after a turnover led to a Sam Donald breakaway dunk to give Bellarmine a 71-68 lead with 10.6 seconds remaining, igniting the Knights Hall crowd. On the other end, Javion Guy-King would connect on a three with 3.3 seconds left to tie the game at 71-71, sending it to overtime.
 
Playing without Karasinski in overtime after he fouled out with 1:40 remaining in regulation, Bellarmine outscored UCA 13-7, sinking 3 of 5 shots and all four free throws. The Knights locked down the Bears defensively, holding them to three buckets on 11 shots.
 
Robinson led all scorers with 24 points and hit 5 of 13 threes. Camren Hunter added 20 and Guy-King finished with 18.
 
Bellarmine shot 51.7 percent overall, their fourth straight game and 12th overall making better than half of their shots. UCA shot 35.1 percent overall, 31.0 percent (13-for-42) from three.
 
Bellarmine returns to action Saturday at Knights Hall as they host North Alabama at 2 p.m. ET.
 
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