The Bellarmine men’s basketball team is gearing up to defend their 2022 ASUN Championship Tournament title on Monday against North Florida in a neutral site game at the Liberty Arena in Lynchburg, Va. The eighth-seeded Knights will face off against the No. 7 seed Ospreys in the first round of the tournament at 7 p.m. The winner of the game will advance to the quarterfinals on Tuesday to face the second-seeded host team, the Liberty Flames.
Bellarmine’s regular season finale against North Florida on Friday ended in a 79-67 loss for the Knights. Despite shooting 53.1% from the field, Bellarmine was unable to overcome North Florida’s dominant rebounding performance and three-point shooting. Carter Hendricksen, a Kentucky native, led the Ospreys with 25 points and nine rebounds.
Bellarmine’s offense was led by a trio of freshmen in Peter Suder, Ben Johnson, and Michael Bova. Suder finished with 12 points and five assists, while Johnson added 11 points and Bova scored a career-high 10 points. Garrett Tipton, the redshirt senior, has been the Knights’ top scorer in the regular season, averaging 12.8 points per game. Juston Betz led Bellarmine in rebounding and assists, with averages of 5.4 and 3.3, respectively.
North Florida’s top scorers are Hendricksen with an average of 16.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, Jose Placer at 14.1 points per game, and Jarius Hicklen with an average of 12.0 points. In Friday’s game against Bellarmine, forward Jonathan Aybar put up 14 points on 7-of-9 shooting.
As Bellarmine looks to defend its ASUN Championship title, the team enters the tournament with a record of 14-17 overall and 9-9 in the ASUN. The Knights are 3-1 all-time in the ASUN Championship, with a loss to Stetson in 2021 and victories against FGCU, Liberty, and Jacksonville in 2022. Bellarmine won the 2022 ASUN Championship with a 77-72 win over Jacksonville in Freedom Hall.
Monday’s game against North Florida will be Bellarmine’s first neutral site game of the year. The Knights will be looking to overcome their recent loss to the Ospreys and secure a victory to advance to the quarterfinals of the tournament. With a talented squad and a strong track record in the ASUN Championship, the Knights will be determined to defend their title and make a deep run in the tournament.
