LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Sometimes, even when you have your best stuff, it's just not your night. Bellarmine men's basketball turned in one of their best offensive performances of the season, but couldn't overcome a blistering Eastern Kentucky attack, falling 95-92 in Knights Hall on Saturday night.

The Knights (11-17, 6-10 ASUN) shot an astounding 68% from the field on the night, making 33-of-48 field goals. They were just as efficient from deep, hitting half of their shots with an 11-of-22 mark.

Eastern Kentucky showed off its range, hitting a season-high 20 threes in the game. The Colonels (11-18, 7-9 ASUN) had six players with at least two made three and shot 55% from beyond the arc as a team.

Senior Jack Karasinski once again led the team, setting a new career best mark with 31 points, topping his previous high 30-point effort from just two games ago. The forward is on a scoring tear down the homestretch as he has registered 23+ points in his last three outing and five times in the six games. Karasinski hit nine of his 15 shots and went 6-of-11 from three while adding two rebounds and two assists.

Fellow senior Brian Waddell notched 23 points in the contest, marking back-to-back games with 18+. Waddell was nearly perfect, going 10-of-11 from the field. He grabbed a game-high seven boards on the night in addition to three assists and two steals.

Tonight was the first time since January 24 (at North Florida) a pair of Bellarmine players recorded 20+ points and is only the fourth time this season (1/1 at West Georgia, 12/6 at Murray State, 11/15 vs Wofford).

Karasinski hit two threes in the opening minutes of the game to put Bellarmine ahead 6-2 but the game quickly turned into a back-and-forth affair and stayed the way deep into the first half.

Down one point with 9:12 remaining, EKU went on a tear, making four straight threes, with two free throws mixed in, to surge ahead to an 11-point lead.

The Knights stopped the run with another Karasinski basket, but Eastern Kentucky could not be stopped in the first half as the Colonels ramped their lead up to 17 with just under two minutes left in the half. Bellarmine scored five points in the final minute of play and shot 68% in the half and still went into the locker room down 53-42.

BU opened the second half with three quick buckets to trim the lead to four and with just over three and half minutes gone by; the lead was down to just one. From there, the Knights and Colonels traded blows for the rest of the game. EKU pushed its lead back up to 13 with 4:47 remaining but Bellarmine never gave up, making it a nail biter in the end. For the second consecutive game, Karasinski had a good look from three to send the game to overtime but was just off the mark as the Knights fell 95-92.

The Knights were even more impressive offensively in the second half, pushing their field goal percentage to 70%. Overall, Bellarmine made five more field goals than Eastern Kentucky while the
Colonels hit nine more threes than the Knights.

Up next, Bellarmine will hit the road for the final time, traveling to Florence, AL on February 25 to take on North Alabama.

For more coverage of Bellarmine athletics, follow BUKnights on X, Instagram and Facebook.