With their non-conference schedule in the rear view mirror, the Bellarmine Knights embark on the portion of their schedule that is exclusively Great Lakes Valley Conference play with a pair of home games this week against Rockhurst and William Jewell.
The Hawks (7-4, 1-2 GLVC) visit on Thursday at 8 p.m. with the Cardinals (3-7, 0-3 GLVC) flying into Knights Hall for a 3:15 p.m. game on Saturday.
Rockhurst enters riding a four-game win streak. After dropping their first two GLVC games at home to Truman State and Quincy, Rockhurst has reeled off victories over William Jewell, Rogers State, Ottawa, and Central Missouri.
Kaleb Warner paces the Hawks at 14.6 points and 5.7 rebounds a game, but point guard Malachi Nix drives the Rockhurst offense and puts up solid numbers: 11.2 ppg, 3.2 rpg, and 3.3 apg.
The game could well be decided on outside shooting. The Hawks launch nearly 30 3-pointers a game, which is 10 more than the Knights average.
On Saturday, the Knights will face a William Jewell squad that features a balanced scoring attack with four players averaging in double digits. Patrick Whelan leads the way for the Cardinals, averaging 17.7 points (5th in the GLVC), and the 6-5 guard is a serious 3-point threat, having made 23 of 51 treys (45.1%) on the year. Austin Reiger, a 6-6 senior, hauls in 6.6 rebounds per game while Jorge Perez-Laham ranks in the league’s top eight in assists with a 4.2 average.
Bellarmine (10-2, 2-0 GLVC) comes in after suffering just its second loss of the season-a 60-74 decision on the road to Lincoln Memorial. That loss dropped the Knights from fifth in the NABC Coaches Poll to No. 13 this week.
Entering play this week, Bellarmine has proven to be the stingiest team in the GLVC, giving up just 64.1 points a game and holding opponents to just 40 percent shooting. The Knights also have been good with ball control, leading the league in assist to turnover ratio (1.50:1).
Individually, Bellarmine’s Adam Eberhard and Al Davis are among league leaders in multiple areas. Eberhard is fourth in scoring (17.8 points) and 10th in rebounding (6.7), field goal percentage (61.5%), and free throw percentage (87.8%). Meanwhile, Davis is second in the GLVC in assist to turnover ratio (2.94:1) and is sixth in both steals (1.75) and assists (4.42).
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by John Spugnardi
