BY QUIN WELCH, Sports Editor
After a bit of a scare against Northwood on Saturday, the Bellarmine Knights secured a comfortable victory Sunday night over the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals, 93-81.
The Cardinals, who led for only 17 seconds of the game, were picked to finish first in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s North division. Although the Knights allowed SVSU to shoot 45.3 percent from the field, Bellarmine shot even better, shooting 58.5 percent from the field and 53.3 percent (8 of 15) from behind the 3-point line.
Junior forward Rusty Troutman set a new career high of 29 points on Sunday, one day after scoring a then-career high of 27 against Northwood. Troutman went 9 of 12 from the field, a blazing 4 of 6 from behind the arc and 7 of 10 from the free throw line. The Bullitt County native did almost all of his damage during the second half, scoring 24 in the final 20 minutes.
Senior Yasin Kolo said he believes Troutman’s ability to drive has helped Troutman score more easily.
“He’s a great scorer, you know,” Kolo said. “I mean, he’s a great shooter, but he’s also driving to the basket and he’s getting a lot of free throws and he’s making his free throws. He’s doing a terrific job scoring the ball.”
Coach Scott Davenport said he believes Troutman’s ability to move without the ball is the key to Troutman’s scoring success.
“He has a great feel of how to play without the basketball, which is a lost art,” Davenport said. “Everybody grows up now, they want to take the ball and play one-on-one. He’s a scorer without the ball.”
Kolo had another productive game himself, scoring 19 points and grabbing seven rebounds. He scored 11 of the Knights’ first 17 points but had to head to the bench with two fouls with 9:37 left to play in the first half. Kolo said that having to leave the game due to foul trouble was upsetting after having such a good start.
“It was frustrating because I was just getting in a rhythm,” Kolo said.
Al Davis, Bellarmine’s junior college transfer point guard, scored 13 points and dished out six assists while conceding only one turnover. Davenport said he was pleased with the way Davis played on Sunday night.
“He beat the game of basketball tonight,” Davenport said. “It wasn’t about the opponent, it was just the game of basketball.”
Bellarmine took a 38-25 lead into halftime then built on it to start the second half. The Knights opened the second half with a 17-5 run, leading by as many as 25 with 16:18 left to play in the game. Although SVSU mounted a bit of a comeback – the Cardinals never came within less than 11 points of the Knights in the second half – Davenport was pleased with the game overall.
“Our whole goal tonight was attention to detail,” Davenport said. “It wasn’t about plays. It was detail. They were fabulous.”
