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Bellarmine basketball: Mocs ruin Knights home opener

Many teams have played at Freedom Hall but very few have have had as successful of a night shooting threes as Chattanooga did on Wednesday night. The Mocs shot the lights out, drilling 17 threes to help lead them to a 77-68 victory over the Bellarmine basketball program.

The common theme of the night was wide open threes for Chattanooga and missed layups from the Knights. The Mocs made six threes before the first media timeout and they continued to let it rain down all night. Bellarmine wouldn’t go away,. The Knights were down 11 before going on 10-3 run to go into the half down 4.

Bellarmine came out of the half strong and were able to get their first lead since the early minutes of the game on an Ethan Claycomb three with 14:38 remaining. The teams would trade leads until a Stefan Kenic three with 9:53 remaining put the Mocs ahead for good. Bellarmine battled until the end but the lead became insurmountable due to giving up open shots and failing to capitalize on miscues.

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Takeaways

Just like the Duke game, the Knights opponent made more threes than they even attempted. Chattanooga shot 17-36 from behind the arc compared to the Knights 3-11. It seemed like every time Chattanooga would drive in the defense would collapse and they would kick out to an open man in the corner.

Points in the paint has seemed to be the bread and butter for the Knights this season and that continued. Despite missing some easy layups, Bellarmine was able to outscore the Mocs 40-12. If they can limit threes on the defensive end in the future, they should be able to win some games with their interior presence.

Bellarmine’s guard play of Pedro Bradshaw and Dylan Penn kept the game close. Bradshaw finished with a team high 22 points on 10-14 (2-3 from three) shooting.to go along with 6 rebounds. Penn was 2nd with 19 points and had a team high 6 assist. The guard depth will be even deeper with the return of senior captain CJ Fleming on Sunday.

Player of the game

Malachi Smith for the Mocs has continued his impressive start to the season. He notched his 4th double-double of the season with a team high in both points (18) and rebounds (11). He also led the team with 6 assists. Smith has bene the catalyst for the currently 5-0 Mocs team and has a strong chance to be first team all-conference this upcoming season.

What’s next for Bellarmine basketball

Bellarmine (2-1/1-2) will hit the road to take on Morgan State (2-1) in Baltimore, MD. Morgan State is led by Troy Baxter (18.7 ppg) and Malik Miller (15 ppg, 8 rpg). Fans can listen to the game on 93.9 The Ville.

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