The No. 10 Bellarmine Knights gritted through a hard-fought road game to hand the host Indianapolis Greyhounds an 81-75 defeat-their first loss in calendar year 2017-in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at Nicoson Hall on Thursday night.
The visiting Knights (17-3, 9-1 GLVC) held the lead for the majority of the game, but the Hounds kept hounding Bellarmine to stay within striking distance.
Even after the Knights grabbed a 12-point cushion with just 1:29 remaining, UIndy stormed back to trim the lead to just three with just 30 seconds left as UIndy’s Eric Davidson drained a 3-pointer then stole the inbounds pass and was fouled while making a basket. His free throw made the score 75-72.
Bellarmine responded with solid execution in the final half minute, however. Adam Eberhard proved to be cool under pressure as the 6-8 sophomore sank all six of his free throws in the final 22 seconds and came up with a steal to stake the Knights to a nine-point lead and seal the win for the Knights.
The Greyhounds’ Jimmy King connected on UIndy’s 15th triple of the night with less than one second remaining to make the final margin six points.
Eberhard collected his fourth double-double of the year with game-highs in points (22) and rebounds (13) while also dishing out four assists for the Knights.
“That was two really, really quality basketball teams playing,” said Bellarmine Coach Scott Davenport. “I’ve got as much respect for (Indianapolis Coach) Stan (Gouard) as anybody…and you know one thing about a Stan Gouard coached-team, they’re going play 40 minutes and not a second less.”
“In the second half, I thought–with just four turnovers– our players executed tremendously,” Davenport said. “We got in trouble in the first half just not doing what we practice, but this was a great win. Our slogan about you defend to win…that was tonight This win was a 14-player win.”
Bellarmine jumped out to an 11-6 lead to open the game, prompting Gouard to call a timeout with 15:35 on the clock. Gouard must have had the answers in huddle during the timeout, because UIndy immediately unleashed a 10-2 run to take a three point lead.
The home team stretched the advantage to 22-18 at the 7:48 mark, but the Knights fought back to take the lead on a 3-pointer by Eberhard less than two minutes later, and the Greyhounds would not lead for the final 25:50 of the game.
Bellarmine took a 32-30 lead into halftime, and although the Greyhounds scored the opening bucket of the second half to tie the score, the Knights’s Rusty Troutman-who was held scoreless in the first half due to foul trouble-answered with a trifecta to give Bellarmine a lead they would not surrender.
The Greyhounds refused to fold and kept the game competitive by converting 10 of their 21 second half treys.
However, after a Tate Hall layup pulled the Greyhounds to with three at 61-58 with 6:59 remaining, Bellarmine’s defense showed its teeth, holding UIndy scoreless for the next 5:44. During that time the Knights stretched their advantage to 12 points, which was pivotal due to the late charge the Hounds made with Davidson’s back to back three-point plays.
Although Eberhard easily posted the most impressive stat line for Bellarmine, Coach Davenport got solid contributions from all nine players who saw court time. In fact, eight of the nine Knights who played drilled at least one three pointer, and all nine players scored.
Senior guard Al Davis, who like Troutman failed to score for BU in the first half, pumped in 12 second half points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Troutman came back to finish with nine points while also dishing out four assists.
Other notable performances for Bellarmine came from freshman Ben Weyer, who drained three triples and finished with 11 points, and senior George Knott, who scored seven early points on his way to a career-high nine.
Davidson led four double-digit scorers for the Greyhounds with 18 points in the losing effort.
The Knights came into the game ranked among the nation’s leaders in field goal percentage, free throw percentage and three-point percentage, and they posted solid shooting numbers again tonight. Bellarmine made 24 of their 48 shots (50 percent) while connecting on 10 of 24 triples (41.7 percent) and converting 23 of 28 free throws (82.1%).
Indianapolis (10-8, 7-3 GLVC) finished the game 15 of 36 from downtown, but the Knights held the Hounds to just three of 13 from inside the arc in the second half as UIndy shot just 38.1 percent overall.
Bellarmine moves on to face Saint Joseph’s on Saturday afternoon in Rensselaer, Indiana. The Pumas fell to 9-11, 3-7 tonight, but gave No. 12 Southern Indiana all they wanted as the Screaming Eagles escaped with a 122-113 win in triple overtime.
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by John Spugnardi
