By Spencer Brown, Staff Writer
Bellarmine’s senior night ended in a heartbreaking 63-62 loss to Lewis Saturday. A back and forth game was decided by Lewis guard Kendale McCullum’s jumper with 2.1 seconds left.
Adam Pischke led Lewis with 24 points. Senior guard Chivarsky Corbett recorded 16 points and 9 rebounds for the Knights.
The first half was tight until the Flyers went on a 12-0 run to take a 13-point lead. Lewis held its double-digit lead until the Knights scored seven straight run (the last 5 of which was scored by Alex Cook) to cut the deficit to eight by halftime.
Bellarmine came out aggressive in the second half as Ben Weyer and Tyler Jenkins both scored a lay-up in the first minute to cut the deficit to four and force Lewis to call a timeout.
The teams traded baskets before Bellarmine guard Daniel Ramser hit a 3-pointer to tie it up at 39. Ramser then blocked Lewis guard Adam Pischke’s lay-up attempt and found Alex Cook for the fast break lay-up to give the Knights their first lead since the first minute of the game.
A 3-pointer by Weyer and layups by Corbett and Jenkins sparked a 7-0 Knights run to give them a five-point lead with nine minutes remaining.
With 5:30 left in the game, Lewis went on an 11-3 run to take a six-point. During the run, Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport was called for a technical foul for arguing with the officials. The Flyers were awarded two free throws and stopped the Knights’ momentum.
“No ifs, ands or buts…I made a mistake and it cost us the game,” Davenport said.
With Bellarmine trailing by six with less than a minute left and, Daniel Ramser made a tough lay-up while drawing a foul that got the crowd back into the game. After being fouled, Pischke went 1-2 from the line before Jenkins made a lay-up to cut Lewis’ lead to two.
Senior forward Adam Eberhard made a layup to cut the deficit to one. Bellarmine regained possession after the Flyers lost the ball out of bounds.
With 12 seconds left, the entire crowd was on its feet. Eberhard fed Ramser in the paint and Ramser scored a contested lay-up with 8.6 seconds left to give Bellarmine a one-point lead.
“Adam made a great play that he’s been making throughout his career,” Ramser said.
After a Flyers timeout, McCullum brought the ball up the court unguarded before hitting a turn-around jumper with 2.1 seconds left to silence the crowd.
“(McCullum) made a good play…but we just have to learn from it and move on,” Ramser said.
With no timeouts left, Jenkins took a shot from just beyond half court. The shot fell short and Lewis walked out with a 63-62 victory.
Davenport said the Knight didn’t play to their potential.
“You have to play 40 minutes of your best (basketball), and I don’t think we did,” Davenport said.
Bellarmine will finish the regular season with two road games against McKendree and Illinois-Springfield before the GLVC tournament in Edwardsville, Illinois.