LOUISVILLE, Ky. – It was a tale of two halves for the Bellarmine University men's basketball team on Wednesday night, but a second half surge wasn't enough to withstand a solid Lipscomb attack, falling to the Bisons 75-72 in Knights Hall.

Bellarmine turned in a dominant, 44-point second half, shooting 56% from the field and 37% from three. The Knights (11-16, 6-9 ASUN) hit five more threes in the second half (six to one) and shot nearly 20% better from the field (38% in first half) but were unable to keep the fire late to close out the comeback.

In what was generally a tightly contested first half, Lipscomb (17-11, 10-5 ASUN) finally broke free of Bellarmine with a 10-point lead and just over three-minutes to go. Senior Jack Kararsinski grabbed an offensive rebound in the waning seconds of the half and put it back in to head to the locker room on a high-note, down 36-28.

After the Bisons hit the first shot of the second half, Bellarmine went on the attack, scoring on three straight possessions to cut the lead down to three heading into a timeout with 18:33 left in the game.

From there, the Knights continued to apply the pressure, finally taking the lead, 43-42, on a three by senior Brian Waddell. That basket propelled Bellarmine on a 19-4 scoring run over the next six and a half minutes to open up a 13-point lead at 59-46, the Knights' largest of the game.

Lipscomb slowly chipped away in the final ten minutes, evening the score at 63-63 with just under five minutes remaining in the contest. Bellarmine and Lipscomb traded the lead four times in the final minutes.

Karasinski put the Knights ahead by one with a late layup, but a four-point play on the other end for Lipscomb put the Bisons ahead 75-72 with just five seconds on the clock. Bellarmine drew up a play to get an open look at a game-tying three, but Karasinski's shot was just off the mark.

Karasinski finished with a game-high 23 points, marking back-to-back 20-point games for the forward. He added a team-high tying seven rebounds plus two steals and an assist to his line. Waddell poured in 18-points, hitting 8-of-12 shots, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, while also grabbing seven boards. Sophomore Tyler Doyle added 14 points, five assists and four rebounds while redshirt sophomore Kenyon Goodin contributed 10 points and three rebounds.

Up next, Bellarmine will close out its homestand on Saturday, February 21 against Eastern Kentucky as the Knights celebrate Homecoming and the 2011 NCAA Division II National Championship team.

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