Despite being 2-2 in ASun play, something was still missing for the Bellarmine basketball program: a home conference win. That changed Friday night when the Knights beat the Stetson Hatters 67-62.
The 1st half was back and forth but mostly dominated by Stetson. Once the Hatters took the lead with 17 minutes left, they never trailed the rest of the half. Bellarmine would tie it up a few times but never was able to take the lead. The Knight’s tied it up at 24 with 4:33 remaining before the Hatters closed the half on a 10-3 run to enter the break up 34-27.
Stetson started the 2nd half strongly and Mahamadou Diawara’s 3 point play put the Hatters up 10 and it appeared they would coast to victory. Then the Knights went on an 11-0 starting with back to back baskets from Alec Pfriem. The run was capped off with a deep three from CJ Fleming to give the Knights their first lead since early in the game. After Stetson split a pair of free throws, Fleming went down the court and hit a corner three to help the Knights regain the lead.
Back and forth they went from there with neither team getting much separation. After almost three minutes of no scoring, Stetson’s Chase Johnston hit a three to tie it at 50. Then Ethan Claycomb hit back to back threes to put the Knights up by 6. The Hatters cut it to one on a couple of occasions but could never get the lead as the Knights coasted to victory 67-62.
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Takeaways for Bellarmine basketball
Defense was excellent for the Knights. They held Stetson to only 42% shooting from the field and 30% from behind the arc. The Knights had 5 blocks on the night including 4 from Claycomb. 2 of Claycomb’s blocks came on the same possession at the rim.
3 point shooting for the Knights as a team was 41%. Only two players hit three-pointers (Fleming and Claycomb) but their shots were huge. Fleming finished 4-7 from behind the arc including the one to cap off the 11-0 run to give them the lead. Claycomb was 3-6 from deep including clutch threes to give them the lead for good.
Rebounding was another key to the Knight’s victory. Dylan Penn led the way with 8 rebounds including two on the offensive end. Pedro Bradshaw had another great night on the glass grabbing 7 boards. Fleming isn’t known much for his rebounding but for the 2nd time in 3 games, he grabbed 6 rebounds. As a team, they outrebounded the Hatters 34-29. On an interesting note, only 3 of the 34 Knights rebounds came from a player listed as a forward
Player of the Game
CJ Fleming had one of his best games of the season on Friday. Shooting 5-9 from the field and 4-7 from deep, he finished the game with a team-high 16 points to go along with 6 rebounds and 2 assists. The 16 points don’t do him justice with the impact he had on the court as he hit some big-time shots for the team to help put them above .500 in both overall record and conference play.
Next opponent
The Knights (6-5, 3-2 ASun) and Hatters (4-7, 2-3) will square off again on Saturday at 5. Fans can view the game on ESPN+ or listen on 93.9 The Ville
