By Spencer Brown, Staff Writer
The No. 1 Bellarmine Knights defeated the Truman State Bulldogs 70-51 to remain undefeated on the season and push their home winning streak to 65 games. The Knights (14-0, 5-0 Great Lakes Valley Conference) were led by seniors Adam Eberhard with 22 points and Chivarsky Corbett with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
The Bulldogs (8-8, 3-3), led by senior Nathan Messer and redshirt freshman Cade McKnight who scored 13 points each, got off to a hot start and took an early lead. However, multiple Bulldog starters got in foul trouble, which ended up being costly for Truman State.
“We had four guys with three fouls,” Truman State coach Jeff Horner said. “That made it a little bit tough, but we had to fight through it.”
Truman State entered the game with almost half of its shots coming from behind the 3-point line, averaging 10 made three-pointers per game. Bellarmine held them to just six on the night.
“Give Truman a lot of credit. That’s the best 3-point shooting team we’ve played,” Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport said. “Our emphasis, with only the one day of preparation, was the three-point line, and we held them to 25 (percent).”
Once the Knights took the lead, they surrendered it. Bellarmine took a 13-point lead into halftime.
The Bulldogs cut the deficit to seven early in the second half, but Bellarmine’s defense never allowed it to get closer. Davenport praised the team’s defensive effort.
“Everybody relates us to being an offensive team, but we held them to 40 percent shooting, so I’m proud of that,” Davenport said.
Bellarmine, which had been averaging 85 points per game, was held to its second-fewest points on the year. Despite shooting and passing the ball well, Davenport said the team was not very pleased.
“We shoot 52 percent with 20 assists,” Davenport said. “Everybody in America would love with those numbers, but you go into (our) locker and they’re not very happy.”
Bellarmine was able to control the rebounds all night, outrebounding Truman 31-27. Another key area for the Knights was bench scoring, with Bellarmine’s bench outscoring Truman State’s 19-0.
“They’re the No. 1 team in the country for a reason,” Horner said.
The Knights travel to Liberty, Missouri, to face William Jewell College (8-9, 2-3 GLVC) Thursday at 7:30 p.m. The Knights look to set a school record for the best start to a season. The team is tied with the 2008-09 and 2017-18 teams.