Bellarmine basketball got a much needed sweep of ASun foe Florida Gulf Coast 80-63 to get to .500 on the season.
The Knights jumped out to an early lead with Nick Thelen scoring the first 6 points for the Knights. The Eagles would keep it close and a Caleb Catto thee with 10:37 left in the half gave them their first lead. The Eagles led by 2 with under a minute left in the half when Ethan Claycomb got a steal and looked like he would have an easy layup to tie it when Catto blocked it off the glass and FGCU would go down and Jalen Warren would hit a 3 to go up 5. The Knights would travel down the court and CJ Fleming hit a last-second three to bring the deficit to 38-36 to enter the half.
The Knights came out of the half on fire as Claycomb scored the first 7 points for them to give them the lead. With 12 mins to go the Eagles trailed by 3 and had a chance to tie but Luis Rolan missed. The teams would go back and forth but the deficit was never closer than 2. With the score 60-58 in Bellarmine’s favor with 7:30 remaining, the Knights kicked it up a notch and closed the game on a 20-5 run to win comfortably.
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Takeaways from Bellarmine basketball’s first ASun Sweep
A day after it seemed like Bellarmine couldn’t buy a basket from behind the arc, the Knights had no problem hitting today. Shooting 45% from deep, two players had a really strong night: Fleming and Claycomb. Fleming was 4-9 from three and Claycomb was 3-6. Alec Pfriem and Juston Betz both connected on their only look from three.
Bellarmine basketball entered the half trailing by 2 but Coach Davenport made adjustments and they came out on fire to start the half. After only scoring 6 points in the paint during the first half, the Knights started attacking the paint more and finished with 26 points in the paint during the 2nd half. This, along with taking better looks all around led BU to build up their lead.
Throughout the game, Knights players were not afraid to absorb contact and draw charges. On several occasions, the Knights got in the way and drew offensive fouls on the Eagles to change the possession. The charges were huge momentum killers for the Eagles and Bellarmine never let them get close.
Bellarmine’s player of the game
Ethan Claycomb had another huge night for the Knights to help them get a much-needed win in conference play. He led the team with 17 points on a very efficient 7-11 from the field including 3-6 from deep. Claycomb also added 5 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 steals to go along with his excellent scoring performance.
Next Opponent
The Knights (5-5, 2-2 ASun) return home to take on Stetson (4-6, 2-2). The Hatters are led by Rob Perry who leads the team with 14.4 ppg. Stetson is coming off a split against Liberty. Fans can catch the game at Freedom Hall or on ESPN+ or 93.9 The Ville on Friday at 7pm.
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