Bellarmine basketball’s historic season comes to an end much sooner than expected.
Bellarmine basketball has had many firsts during this historic season but unfortunately couldn’t notch their first ASUN conference tournament win as the Knights were upset by the Stetson Hatters 73-70
Just like the regular season, Stetson controlled the game early. The Hatters were able to jump out to an early 6-0 lead. The Knights did battle back and eventually took the lead. The Hatters, however, were able to get the lead back and build it up to as high as 12. With 1:33 remaining in the half, the Knights went on an 8-0 run capped off by a CJ Fleming buzzer-beating 3 to pull within 4.
The 2nd half was a back and forth affair with neither team leading by more than 6. Bellarmine got the lead up to 5 with 9:16 remaining and appeared to have momentum on their side before going scoreless for over 3 minutes.
With just under a minute to go, and the Knights trailing by one, Fleming drove to the basket and hit a layup to give the Knights the lead. On the next Stetson possession, Stephan Swenson would miss a tough shot but Mahamadou Diawara would tip it in to give the Hatters the lead.
On the ensuing Knights possession, Pedro Bradshaw would drive and get a good look at a layup but unfortunately, the shot wouldn’t fall as Diawara grabbed his team-high 11th rebound. He would miss both free throws but Bellarmine would immediately turn it over and Christiaan Jones would ice it with free throws.
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Takeaways for Bellarmine basketball
Despite the Knights losing their 2nd straight game, this wasn’t all a bad week. Pedro Bradshaw and Dylan Penn were named 1st team all-ASUN. Ethan Claycomb and Juston Betz were named ASUN all-academic team. Overall, the Knights were able to get it going both on the court and in the (virtual) classroom this season and should improve next season.
Just like the beginning of the season, rebounding was the aspect that doomed Bellarmine. While the problem mostly went away during conference play, the last two games have been abysmal. The Knights were outrebounded by 10 against Liberty and 17 against Stetson.
The 17 rebound difference is the worst for the Knights during an ASUN game. The Hatters pulled down 37 total rebounds including a combined 20 from Diawara and Jones. 13 of the rebounds came on the offensive end and led to 11 second-chance points, including what ultimately was the game-winner. On the Bellarmine end, the Knights leading rebounder was Betz with 6.
One positive for the Knights was shooting. The Knights continued their dominant stretch by shooting 55% from the field and 50% from three point range. This is the 3rd straight game that Bellarmine shot 55% from the field. The 50% from three was tied for their 2nd best three point shooting percentage this season.
Player of the Game
Christiaan Jones played a huge role in the Hatters upset victory. Jones finished with a team-high 19 points on 7-12 shooting including 3-5 from behind the arc. He nearly had a double-double as he pulled down 9 rebounds. Jones was also very active on the defensive end as he gathered 4 steals.
Next Opponent
As of now, it is unknown if Bellarmine would play another game. With the CBI and CIT cancelling their tournaments and the NIT reducing the field to 16, it appears unlikely that Bellarmine will be selected to participate.
However, there has still been a lot to celebrate this season as the Knights went 13-7 (10-3 ASUN) and finished 2nd in the conference regular-season standings.
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