Freedom Hall is filled with history, and a little more will be made Wednesday night.
The Bellarmine University men’s basketball team will host a Division I game for the first time as the Knights are set to welcome undefeated Chattanooga in a 7 p.m. (ET) contest. The matchup also marks Bellarmine’s first with Freedom Hall as its home venue.
There were other firsts for Bellarmine (1-1) that came before its clash with the Mocs (4-0). The Knights’ first-ever Division I game came Friday at then-No. 6 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Bellarmine followed Sunday with its first DI win, an 84-63 road victory over Howard.
Chattanooga has opened the season in impressive fashion. The Mocs are off to a 4-0 start for the first time since 1987-88. The program is a single win shy of 800 for the DI era, which began in the 1977-78 season. Not long before the DI transition, Chattanooga and Bellarmine met for the first and only time in February of 1976, with the Mocs earning a 74-70 win in Knights Hall.
On Monday, Chattanooga secured an 80-70 road victory over Middle Tennessee. David Jean-Baptiste tallied 20 points, his second straight 20-point effort, while Malachi Smith recorded his third double-double already with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Stefan Keni matched his Saturday output against Bellarmine’s former GLVC rival Northern Kentucky of 17 points.
In addition to Middle Tennessee, Chattanooga earned wins over Lander (99-63), Tennessee Tech (62-54) and Northern Kentucky (79-72).
Jean-Baptiste earned Preseason All-SoCon recognition for Chattanooga. The senior guard is pacing the Mocs in scoring at 19.0 per game while Smith is averaging 14.3 points and Kenic 14.0. Smith is hauling in 11.3 rebounds per game for Chattanooga, which was picked to finish seventh in the 10-team league in the Southern Conference’s preseason coaches’ poll.
Bellarmine is fresh off celebrating its first DI victory. In the 21-point win over Howard, the Knights shot 52.7 percent from the field, canned 10 3-pointers on 21 attempts, distributed 20 assists on their 29 field goals, outrebounded the Bison 42-23 and had a 25-0 advantage in bench points.
Junior guard Dylan Penn recorded Bellarmine’s first 20-point game in DI with 22 points, while sophomore guard Alec Pfriem notched the program’s first DI double-double after tallying 14 points and 14 rebounds. Junior guard Pedro Bradshaw nearly joined him (15 points, nine rebounds), and senior forward Ethan Claycomb added 12 points.
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