LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Jacksonville University men's basketball battled Bellarmine into overtime on Saturday night, before falling 76-73.
 
The Dolphins (11-6, 3-2) were able to weather most of the punches thrown by the Knights, but could not overcome the free throw disparity in the second half.
 
Bellarmine got off to a strong start, burying a couple of early threes. After steadying themselves, JU slowly started to chip away at the six-point deficit. Kevion Nolan hit a three-pointer to give the Dolphins their first lead, 21-20, with 8:09 to play in the first.
 
From there, the two sides consistently traded buckets, with the game tied at 26 with 2:06 left. Jordan Davis hit a jumper to go up two, but the Knights answered with a layup to tie it with a minute to play. A couple of free throws gave Bellarmine the lead, but Nolan sank a big three to end the half and give JU a 31- 30 halftime lead.
 
The second half started with a physical start for both. Jordan Davis hit a three to cut it to one and Osayi Osifo sank a layup to put the Dolphins back in front 36-35 with 17:41 to play.
 
JU managed to continually make big shots to keep the Knights at bay, as both teams managed big shot after big shot in the second half. The Dolphins grew to lead to as many as five, but Bellarmine kept finding ways to hit shots to keep it close.
 
Bellarmine hit six free throws in the final three minutes, and got a big layup from their leading scorer Dylan Penn to tie it at 63 with 21 seconds left. Nolan got off a three with six seconds left that missed, and Bellarmine had a look at the buzzer that rimmed out and forced OT.
 
The Knights got a layup and Mike Marsh got a hook shot to tie it back up to start overtime. Both teams made free throws to keep it tied, until Rod Brown hit a pair to put the Dolphins up 68-67 with just under two minutes remaining and Marsh had a layup to stretch the lead to three.
 
Bellarmine got a three to tie it, before Nolan sank another three to give JU a 73-70 lead with 36 seconds remaining, but the Knights got another three of their own, with a foul to complete a four-point play, which gave them the lead for good.
 
UP NEXT
 
Jacksonville wraps its four-game homestand on Monday evening at Kennesaw State. The game tips at 5 p.m.

COACH'S COMMENTS

 

NUMBERS YOU SHOULD KNOW
 

• Rod Brown led the game with 10 rebounds, his first double-digit rebound game of the season, and third of his career
• Brown also tied his career-high with four assists
• Kevion Nolan had a team-high 21 points, his fourth 20+ scoring game of the year
• Jacksonville got six fewer free throw attempts and made 10 fewer