Bellarmine boxscore in PDF

Despite Armon Provo's game-high 27 points, the Maryville men's basketball team dropped an 83-73 decision to top-seed Bellarmine in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament at the Family Arena in St. Charles, Mo., Thursday afternoon.
 
The Saints were up 8-6 before Damyan Stoyanov hit a jumper to start a 7-0 burst. Max Mischkulnig followed with a basket, and Provo knocked down his second triple for a 15-6 lead five minutes into the game. The Knights answered with five straight before a long jumper by Trae Pemberton and another hoop by Stoyanov put the Saints ahead 20-11. Bellarmine closed to 31-28 until Provo drilled three straight triples for the Saints to build a 40-31 lead before settling for a 40-33 lead at halftime. Provo finished with 21 points in the opening half keyed by a 6-of-7 shooting performance from 3-point range.
 
Provo rattled in a jumper in the lane as the Saints still led 44-38 at the 17:45 mark but the Knights scored 10 straight points to surge ahead. Pemberton ended Maryville's scoring drought. When Josh Montague drove for a layup, the Saints were down just 50-48 with 13:46 to play. Bellarmine used a 16-6 sequence to eventually build a 66-54 lead. The Saints responded with six straight points to rally. Mischkulnig grabbed an offensive rebound for a put back, Stoyanov drained a 3-pointer, and one Pemberton free throw drew Maryville to 66-60 with 7:26 to play. The Saints would not allow the Knights to pull away and still only trailed 76-69 after a Montague 3-pointer from the top of the key. Bellarmine scored five straight points and did not allow the edge to slip back to single digits as the Knights won their 14th straight game to improve to 26-2 and advance to the semifinals. Chris Whitehead topped the Knights with 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Jake Thelen finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
 
In addition to his 27 points, Provo grabbed six rebounds and handed out four assists to pace the Saints. Pemberton added 15 points and six boards, while Stoyanov added 11. The Saints finished the day hitting 10 3-pointers and led for a majority of the game. The Saints close out their season with a record of 12-17.