Score: #3 Bellarmine 83, Saginaw Valley 75
Records: BU (1-0) | SVSU (0-1)
Location: Nicoson Hall - University of Indianapolis
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The Cardinal Men's Basketball team opened the 2017-18 season on the road, facing the No. 3 team in the country in the Bellarmine University Knights on Friday (Nov. 10) afternoon. After trailing by double-digits at the half, Saginaw Valley used a solid second half to outscore the Knights but would eventually fall by an 83-75 final score.
After Bellarmine ran out to a quick 5-0 lead in the contest, Mike Wells Jr. gave the Cardinals their first lead of the game at 6-5 after a pair of free throws. SV led by as many as eight points at the 12:51 mark after a Richie Roberts triple made the score 16-8.
The Knights would take the lead back, however, and carry a 41-29 edge into the halftime break.
BU led by its largest margin of 17 points (49-32) with 17:05 to play in the contest but the Cardinals would fight back to trim that deficit.
The deficit was brought down to single digits after Malik Garner nailed a three-pointer to make the score 59-50 in BU's favor at the 9:16 marker of the second half. A Garner free throw with 4:58 showing had the deficit trimmed down to just five points (63-58), but that's as close as SVSU would get the remainder of the contest.
Bellarmine would eventually push the lead back out to 11 points and claim the regional victory by the final 83-75 count.
Inside the Boxscore
- Wells led the way offensively for Saginaw Valley, notching a game-high 18 points on 6-9 shooting and 2-2 from three. He added four rebounds and four assists in his 34 minutes of action. He was named the Meijer "Player of the Game."
- Garner added 15 points off the bench, using a 3-5 performance from beyond the arc and hitting on 4-6 tries from the charity stripe. He added three steals as well.
- Richie Roberts had 14 points and three rebounds.
- Ja'Christian Biles recorded 14 points in his first career performance for the Cardinals.
- Sebastiano Lamonato grabbed a game-high six boards and added five points.
- The Knights posted a slim 32-31 edge on the glass and had a 50-26 advantage in the paint.
- SVSU's bench had a 52-39 advantage in the matchup.
Up Next...
The Cardinals remain at UIndy and will face the host Greyhounds on Saturday (Nov. 11) in another regional contest. Tip-off is slated for 5:30 p.m from Indy's Nicoson Hall.
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