By Mary Ringwald, Sports Writer
Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport challenged his team to grow after the loss to Wisconsin-Parkside. The No.10 Knights accepted the challenge as they cruised to a 101-65 victory over their Great Lakes Valley Conference rival University of Indianapolis Saturday night in Knights Hall.
“I am really proud of this basketball team,” Davenport said. “We are really learning how to play team defense. That means five guys talk, five guys take accountability, (and) five guys want to play defense for 40 minutes.”
The Knights’ defense allowed the Greyhounds only 35.8 percent from the field and 26.9 percent from the 3-point line despite a Bellarmine season-high 21 turnovers. The stifling defense shut down one of the top teams in the conference and the league’s second-leading scorer, senior Jordan Loyd.
Bellarmine allowed Loyd only two baskets for the game, more than 16 less than his scoring average.
“We were stagnant on offense, we did not execute, and we just did not have a good shooting night,” Greyhounds head coach Stan Gouard said. “But, we cannot take anything away from Bellarmine. (They) did a great job.”
While the Knights were causing problems for the Hounds offense, they surpassed their season average scoring by 10 percent with no player shooting more than nine times.
“We scored 101 points against a great basketball team, and we only had one guy take nine shots,” Davenport said. “Nobody on the team took eight. That is amazing, balanced basketball.”
The even distribution of the ball allowed Bellarmine to capitalize on every opportunity they had. Junior guard Rusty Troutman said the team used its strengths to its advantage all around the court.
“Everyone can score at any position,” Troutman said. “It is just one of our other strengths as a team that everyone can score.”
Senior Yasin Kolo led the Knights with 21 points and nine rebounds.
Other double-digit scorers included Troutman with 20, Michael Parrish with 12, and George Suggs and Josh Derkson with 11 a piece.
The victory puts Bellarmine alone atop the GLVC East.
“Monday is February 1st, and they know that,” Davenport said. “They know we are playing in the best conference in the country. They’ve done a great job of staying in the moment.”