Playing their first game in two weeks, Bellarmine basketball was able to hang in with Notre Dame until the final minutes when the Fighting Irish pulled ahead and won 81-70.
The first 16 minutes went really well for the Knights. Despite not having a game in two weeks, Bellarmine started off strong led by the return of senior guard CJ Fleming. Fleming made his first three shots from behind the arc to help give the Knights the lead early on. With the score tied at 33, Nate Laszewski of the Irish made a layup with 3:50 left in the half to spark a 12-3 run to end the half and send them into the break up 45-36.
Bellarmine came out of the break hitting back to back threes to bring the deficit down to 3 but that was the closest the game would be. The Irish would control the game and never let it get closer than 7 for the final 15 minutes to get a much needed win.
Takeaways
Fleming returned to the lineup and instantly provided a spark for the Knights. Fleming was the leading returning three point shooter and he continued to be lethal by going 5-6 from behind the arc during the game. The Knights as a team had their best three point shooting performance of the season going 11-20.
Rebounding continues to be an issue for the Knights as they were outrebounded 34-15. 15 rebounds is a season-low and the team failed to gather an offensive rebound. Notre Dame was able to gather 6 offensive rebounds and get 10 second-chance points. Outside of Pedro Bradshaw, who gathered 6 rebounds, no other Knight had more than 2.
Finally playing with a nearly full and healthy lineup, the Knights were able to go 10 deep, which Coach Davenport expects to be the case going forward. Dylan Penn came off the bench but ended up playing 30 minutes and scored 16 points on 7-15 shooting (2-4 from three). Sam DeVault only played 7 minutes but he didn’t miss going 3-3 (1-1) from the field for 7 points.
Player of the game
ND’s Dane Goodwin had arguably the best game of his college career. He got the Irish going early and scored 19 of his 27 points in the first half. The 27 points tied a career high for him. His shooting was very efficient as he hit 8-10 from the field and a perfect 11-11 from the free-throw line. Goodwin also added 7 rebounds.
Next Opponent
The Knights (1-3) will return home to take on Division III Transylvania (0-4) on New Year’s Day at 7 pm. Fans can purchase tickets online or tune in to ESPN+ or 93.9 The Ville.
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