The No. 13 Bellarmine University fought off a tough challenge from the visiting Rockhurst Hawks to post an 80-71 victory in a Great Lakes Valley Conference game in Knights Hall tonight.
Adam Eberhard led the Knights (11-2, 3-0 GLVC) in points, rebounds and assists as the sophomore from Evansville flirted with a triple double with 19 points, 13 rebounds and a career-high seven assists.
The Hawks (7-5, 1-3 GLVC) broke out to a quick five-point lead before the Knights responded to take a 35-31 advantage at the half.
Rockhurst again got a fast start to open the second period and overtook the Knights to lead 40-37 at the 17:31 mark. But again, Bellarmine answered. This time the Knights went on an 8-0 scoring spurt to take a lead they would never surrender.
With 34 fouls whistled in the second period alone, the game was a hard-fought affair without much flow.
“This was a very perplexing game,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. “The two teams combined to shoot 13 free throws in the first half and 43 the second half.”
Despite the rough action, the Knights managed to post solid numbers with 50 percent shooting and outrebounding the Hawks 38-24. Bellarmine totaled 20 assists on 25 made baskets. “Our execution was pretty good tonight,” Davenport said. “The biggest negative was we gave up 59 percent shooting in the second half.”
“From a team standpoint, from a staff standpoint, this was a tremendous win,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. “I’m proud of everybody involved because it took everybody. (Rockhurst) is a really good. They’re not just scrappy; they’re very good. I have a lot of respect for the job the Drew Diener is doing with that program.”
Five players reached double digits for the Knights with Al Davis tying Eberhard for team-high honors with 19. Tyler Jenkins added 13 while Rusty Troutman and Jarek Coles added 12 apiece.
Kaleb Warner paced the Hawks with a game-high 21 points while Alex Hagan, who made his first appearance for Rockhurst since November, grabbed seven rebounds, and point guard Malachi Nix dished out six assists.
With the victory, Bellarmine extends its home winning streak to 33 games, which is the second longest in NCAA Division II.
On a day when much of the local area was disrupted by snow and afternoon classes were canceled at Bellarmine, a crowd of more than 1,600 came out to support the Knights. “This crowd was incredible tonight,” Davenport said. “The students were great; the crowd was great.”
Next up for the Knights is another home game on Saturday against William Jewell, who fell to Southern Indiana 88-71 tonight. Game time is scheduled for 3:15 p.m.
