Jan. 21, 2006

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Lewis held the most prolific 3-point shooting team in the Great Lakes Valley Conference in check from beyond the arc Saturday, but Bellarmine's surprisingly good effort at the foul line gave the Knights a 67-65 win over the Flyers.

Bellarmine's victory, its fourth in five games, lifted the Knights (8-9, 5-4 GLVC) to third place in the GLVC East Division. Lewis (10-7, 4-5 GLVC) suffered a third consecutive defeat, each by five or fewer points, and slipped into a fourth-place tie with Wisconsin-Parkside.

Lewis, which ranks second in the GLVC in 3-point defense (33.8 percent allowed), lived up to that billing. The Flyers limited Bellarmine, which averages a league-leading nine treys, to just 4-of-12 from 3-point range. Lewis instead was the hot-shooting perimeter team, nailing 10-of-15 from beyond the arc including 7-of-8 in the second half.

However, the Knights were 17-of-20 (85 percent) at the free-throw line, far better than their 10th-place GLVC standing of 69.3 percent entering the game. Bellarmine sank 13-of-14 freebies in the second half.

Meanwhile, Lewis was just 15-of-25 at the stripe and committed an uncharacteristically high 22 turnovers while forcing just 13 Bellarmine miscues.

Trailing 64-60 with less than a minute left, the Flyers got a big 3-pointer from Branden Hunter following Kendall Patterson (Chicago, Ill./Kenwood)'s offensive rebound.

Matt Miller's turnover on Bellarmine's next possession gave the ball back to Lewis with 13 seconds remaining. But the Flyers were whistled for an offensive foul and, following another Lewis foul on the ensuing inbounds play, Miller redeemed himself by making two free throws to give the Knights a 66-63 lead.

Bellamine chose to foul instead of giving Lewis a chance to tie the game with a 3-pointer, and Brandon Dagans calmly netted both free throws to make it a one-point game again with three seconds to play. The Knights left the door open when Kyle Thrasher made just one of two free throws, but the Flyers' last-second desperation shot was off the mark.

The first half featured eight ties and 11 lead changes. Neither team led by more than three points until Bellarmine took a 31-26 edge with 1:08 left, a margin that was trimmed to 31-29 at the break by three Marcus Scott free throws.

Pat Monaghan drilled a 3-pointer on the Flyers' initial second-half possession, triggering a 7-0 run that gave the visitors their largest lead of the game at 36-31. Bellarmine regrouped, though, and five more lead changes and four ties followed before the hosts went in front for good, 60-58, at the 2:41 mark.

Monaghan tallied 18 points, including 11 in the second half, to lead Lewis in scoring for a 10th time this season. He was 3-of-5 in 3-point attempts. John Loeffelholz scored nine of his 13 points in the second half, and Hunter netted nine points on a 3-of-4 effort from 3-point range.

Patterson collected a game-high five assists, while Loeffelholz and Stephan Bolt grabbed five rebounds apiece to lead the Flyers to a 29-22 advantage on the boards.

Miller led all players with 23 points and added four assists for Bellarmine, which lost second-leading scorer Calvin Fowler (12.2 ppg) to an ankle sprain just two minutes into the game. Matt Otte, who along with Miller was 8-of-9 at the foul line, scored 19 points, and Montonio Blake secured a game-high eight rebounds.

Lewis returns to Neil Carey Arena for GLVC clashes with Southern Illinois Edwardsville (Thursday, 7:30 p.m.) and Quincy (Saturday, 3 p.m.).