Bellarmine basketball snagged its first win as a Division I program with a victory at Howard.
Scott Davenport was already the winningest coach in Bellarmine basketball history but he now has something that none of his predecessors could: a win at the Division I level. The Knights got off to a hot start against Howard and used it to win convincingly, 84-63.
Dylan Penn got the Knights rolling early by making his first five shots from the field. Penn finished the half with 16 points on 7-10 shooting (2-4 from three) in the half to propel the Knights to a 45-35 halftime lead.
The Knights came out of the half on fire and used that to keep the advantage in their favor. Howard was able to cut the lead to 8 on a Kyle Foster three with 14:55 left, but a Penn jumper on the next possession gave the Knights a double digit lead for good. In the 2nd half, BU shot 7-10 from behind the arc after only hitting 27.3% during the first half.
Main Takeaways
Against Duke, Bellarmine basketball couldn’t seem to get a rebound. The opposite was true on Sunday as Bellarmine outrebounded the Bison 42-23. Alec Pfriem had 14 of the rebounds and Pedro Bradshaw had 9 including 5 on the offensive glass. As a team, Bellarmine had 13 offensive rebounds leading to 14 second-chance points.
Bellarmine’s depth was on display as they outscored the Bison bench 25-0. The bench was led by Pfriem’s 14 points and Sam DeVault’s 8 points. The Knights went 8 deep for the majority game and could go even deeper when CJ Fleming and Garrett Tipton return to the team. In a postgame interview, Davenport said that Fleming would return on Thursday, one day after their next game.
Player of the Game
It would be hard to narrow it down to just one player who made the biggest contributions to the team’s win. Penn led the Knights in points with 22 and his explosiveness with attacking the basket helped Bellarmine get the early lead. Penn finished the game shooting 10-15 from the field and 2-5 from three. He was also tied for the team’s lead in assist with 5. Alec Pfriem’s contribution off the bench was a plus for the Knights. He finished with a double-double with 14 points and a team-high 14 rebounds. 12 of Pfriem’s rebounds came on the defensive glass to prevent the Bisons from getting second-chance opportunities.
Next Opponent
Bellarmine (1-1) will return to Louisville for its home opener against currently undefeated Chattanooga (3-0) on Wednesday at 7. The Mocs are led by David Jean-Baptiste (18.7 ppg) and Malachi Smith (13 ppg, 10.7 rpg).
Fans can purchase tickets on Ticketmaster (Tickets | Bellarmine University Knights Men’s Basketball vs. Chattanooga Mocs Men’s Basketball – Louisville, KY at Ticketmaster) for $15 to $25, watch live on ESPN+ or listen on 93.9 The Ville.
