Bellarmine boxscore in PDF

St. Louis - The Maryville men's basketball team made repeated late runs at No. 7 Bellarmine but the Knights held off the charge to down the Saints 79-64. Maryville hit half of its shots (23-of-46), including 11 3-pointers, but the visitors were even better at 58 percent.
 
The Knights took a 12-6 lead before Karson King scored and Forrester Sims knocked down a 3-pointer to pull Maryville to 12-11. Bellarmine sank a triple but Jimmy Barton answered from behind the arc to pull the Saints to within one point at 15-14. The Knights used a 9-0 run to build a double-digit edge. Anthony Johnson scored and Grant Sims swiped a pass and his layup cut the BU cushion to 24-18. Marvin Grant-Clark sank a 3-pointer as the Saints closed to 28-23 but the Knights took a 35-25 lead into the locker room.
 
Johnson swished in a 3-pointer at the 17:32 mark of the second half as Maryville opened the second half on an 8-2 run to get to within 37-32. After a BU three-point play, Barton sank a 3-pointer for a 40-35 deficit for the Saints. The Saints started heating up from 3-point range and would not let the Knights run away. On four different occasions, the Saints sank a shot from deep to trim the Bellarmine lead to single digits. Grant Sims converted to pull the Saints back to 56-47 with 8:36 to play.
 
Bellarmine still was up by 11 before Johnson hit a runner and two free throws to get Maryville to within seven at 62-55. A Forrester Sims free throw inched the Saints closer at 64-58 with just under five minutes remaining. However, Bellarmine's sank consecutive 3-pointers to restore the BU edge. The Saints made a last run when Jeff Leeson's 3-pointer from the corner brought the home squad to 72-64 with 2:12 to play but Maryville did not score the rest of the way as the Knights improved to 21-3 overall, 13-1 in the GLVC.
 
Johnson was 6-of-12 from the field to finish with his 16 points. Forrester Sims also made half of his field goal attempts and added 15 points with five rebounds, while Grant Sims chipped in 13 points.
 
The Saints are now 8-18 overall, 2-12 in the league. Maryville is back in action Saturday when No. 15 Southern Indiana pays a visit to Moloney Arena for a 3 p.m. tip.