The Bellarmine Knights (1-5) men’s basketball team defeated the Bowling Green Falcons (2-4) 80-68 on Saturday afternoon at Knights Hall in Louisville, Kentucky.
The game started with both teams attempting to shoot the lights out. Most of the early shots for both BG and Bellarmine were three-pointers, including a three-point make from senior forward Marcus Johnson and redshirt junior forward Curt Hopf.
The Falcons played carelessly toward the middle of the first half. BG took tougher shots than they needed to and made careless passes, which led to turnovers and allowed Bellarmine to build a lead up to eight.
The first half ended with a last-second three-point buzzer-beater from redshirt junior guard Ben Johnson to give the Knights a 34-29 lead heading into halftime.
One of the only reasons the Falcons kept the first half close was because of junior guard Javontae Campbell. Campbell had 12 first-half points and shot 85% from the field.
The Knights had a balanced offense, with eight different players scoring in the first half. Bellarmine had 18 points come through the paint and shot 46.7% from the field in the first half.
The second half started exactly how the first half went, unforced errors by Bowling Green. The Knights immediately took advantage of these errors by going on a 7-0 run, increasing their lead to 13.
The Orange and Brown came alive in the second half. Bowling Green went on a 9-0 run of their own to cut the lead down to four.
However, every time Bowling Green cut the game down to a two-possession lead, Bellarmine was right there to extend that lead. The scoring from graduate student forward Dylan Branson, junior forward Jack Karasinski, and junior guard Billy Smith was too much for the Falcons to contain.
The Knights overwhelmed the Falcons with their scoring coming from the paint. 36 of their points come from the paint compared to Bowling Green’s 26.
The scoring trio of Ben Johnson, Karasinski and Smith led the way for the Knights. Smith led the team in scoring with 18, followed by Karaskinski with 15 and Ben Johnson with 14.
Campbell and senior guard Derrick Butler led Bowling Green with 21 points apiece. Campbell also added a team-high two steals while Butler drained a team-best five three-pointers.
Marcus Johnson was held under 10 points for the first time this season, scoring just nine on 2-7 shooting from the field.
Next, Bowling Green will play the Weber State Wildcats on Friday, Nov. 29, at 1 p.m. at Mullett Arena in the Arizona Tip-Off tournament.
