Bellarmine University’s men’s basketball team was unable to overcome a significant halftime deficit in their game against Lipscomb on Thursday night at Allen Arena in Nashville. Despite a strong second-half effort, the Knights lost 81-71 and now hold a 6-11 overall record and 1-4 in ASUN conference play, while Lipscomb improved to 11-7 and 4-1 in the league.
Bellarmine trailed by 22 points at halftime but managed to outscore Lipscomb 44-32 after the break. The Knights cut the lead to seven points late in the game but could not complete the comeback.
Head coach Doug Davenport tried an early strategy shift by substituting all five starters less than four minutes into the contest, a move planned before tipoff. However, this did not slow down Lipscomb’s offense. After missing their first shot, the Bisons made eight of their next nine attempts to take control early with a 21-8 advantage.
The Knights struggled offensively in the first half, particularly from three-point range, missing all 12 attempts despite entering the matchup ranked second in ASUN for three-point percentage behind Lipscomb. In contrast, Lipscomb’s Ethan Duncan hit eight of eleven three-pointers before halftime, surpassing his previous career high.
Lipscomb led 49-27 at intermission after shooting nearly 56 percent from the field. Bellarmine shot just under 35 percent during that stretch.
Coach Davenport continued experimenting with lineups as freshmen Grant Neal, Tommy Clark, and Jacob Wassler saw increased playing time after halftime. Neal scored five quick points as Bellarmine began narrowing the gap. Clark hit Bellarmine’s first three-pointer of the night early in the second half; Grant Whitaker followed with another triple as part of a push that brought Bellarmine within striking distance multiple times.
With less than two minutes remaining, Brian Waddell connected on a three-pointer to cut Lipscomb’s lead to eight points. Donovan Hunter then made it a seven-point game with just over a minute left. However, Lipscomb secured victory with late free throws and a layup from Grant Asman.
Bellarmine limited Lipscomb to only one field goal—a late layup—in five tries over the final six minutes but could not capitalize enough on offense during that span.
Jack Karasinski led Bellarmine scorers with 16 points; Waddell added 13. Nine different players scored for Bellarmine, tying their season high against Division I opponents for most players making at least one field goal in a single game this year (previously set against Georgia). As a team, however, they shot just over 37 percent—well below their season average of nearly 52 percent—and failed to produce a 20-point scorer for only the second time since November.
For Lipscomb, Duncan finished with a game-high 27 points—24 coming before halftime—while Asman had 17 and Charlie Williams contributed ten points. Mateo Esmeraldo tallied eight assists for the Bisons who ended up shooting just under fifty percent from the floor.
Bellarmine will look to rebound Saturday when they travel to face Eastern Kentucky University at Richmond; tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
