Box Score
Kentucky Wesleyan College defended well against No. 1 Bellarmine, but the Panthers couldn't get nearly enough shots to fall Saturday night.
No. 1 Bellarmine used an 8-0 run with five minutes gone in the second half to take command on the way to a 78-61 win at Knights Hall in Louisville.
The victory pushed Bellarmine to 23-2 and 15-2 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. No. 12 KWC fell to 19-6 and 11-6 in the league. KWC has lost three of its last four games.
“You can't go 4-for-21 from 3, and have open look after open look and miss them,” KWC coach Todd Lee said. “That wears on you mentally after awhile.”
Anthony Young worked inside for 21 points and eight rebounds to lead KWC. Young was 11-of-12 from the free-throw line in 32 minutes.
Cornbread Walker scored 13 points, but he and Young were the only Panthers scoring in double figures.
KWC struggled shooting from the floor, hitting 18-of-49 for 36.7 percent, along with the 4-of-21 numbers from 3-point range for 19 percent. KWC made 21-of-27 free throws for 78 percent.
“You can't keep going empty and empty against them,” Lee said.
Bellarmine, meanwhile, had its usual strong balance, scoring up and down the starting lineup.
Luke Sprague led the way for the Knights with 18 points. Jeremy Kendle scored 16 points and Keisten Jones added 15 points for Bellarmine.
The Knights got a double-double from Chris Dowe with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Braydon Hobbs added 10 points, four assists and made six steals.
“Hobbs took over the game during a two or three minute stretch when it was still close, like five points,” Lee said.
The momentum definitely turned toward the Knights after Bellarmine coach Scotty Davenport was called for a technical foul with 16:18 to go in the second half.
Young made 1-of-2 technical free throws, giving KWC a 38-37 lead. Bellarmine caught fire after that, getting two free throws from Kendle, a dunk from Chris Dowe and a 3-pointer by Jones, to go up 45-38 with 14:31 to go.
Walker made a jumper for KWC to cut the deficit to 45-40, but the Panthers got no closer than that the rest of the way.
KWC was pretty solid defensively, holding the Knights to 41.7 percent shooting from the floor (25-of-60) and 30.4 percent from 3-point range (7-of-23). Bellarmine also made 21-of-22 free throws.
