Bellarmine's Chris Dowe attempts to save the ball in the second half.
Box score
HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. - After falling behind by seven points early in the second half, Montevallo (Ala.) battled back and used a pair of big runs to upset defending national champion Bellarmine, 79-72, Thursday night at The Bank of Kentucky Center.
Montevallo (29-7) trailed 36-35 at the break, but a 10-4 Bellarmine run to open the final period allowed the Knights to extend their advantage to seven points three minutes into the second half.
The Falcons, however, scored eight consecutive points to erase the deficit and take a brief 47-46 edge with just under 15 minutes to play in the contest.
After the two teams traded baskets throughout the next three minutes, Montevallo embarked on a 7-1 spurt to build a 58-52 advantage, its largest of the game at that point, with 10:35 to play.
“We changed the way we were running our offense, and these guys ran it to perfection and we got a lot of easy baskets,” Montevallo head coach Danny Young said. “I think it finally wore on them down the stretch.”
The quicker Falcons pushed the pace and blew open a back-and-forth game – four ties, 10 lead changes — in the last nine minutes.
Bellarmine (29-4), which had won 10 consecutive games in the NCAA II Tournament coming into Thursday night's contest, battled back to cut the deficit to 62-60 with 8:32 remaining in the contest.
Montevallo, however, buckled down defensively as it held the Knights scoreless for nearly eight minutes. Bellarmine missed on 13 consecutive shots during the drought, which saw the Falcons extend their lead to 73-60 with less than a minute to play. Ten of the 13 shots the Knights missed were from three-point range.
Meanwhile, senior forward DeMarcus Catchings had back-to-back buckets as the Falcons extended their advantage to 66-60 with seven minutes to play. Senior guard D.J. Rivera gave Montevallo a 70-60 lead with a pair of buckets in the next two-and-a-half minutes, while junior forward Drico Hightower's basket with less than two minutes to play pushed the Falcons' cushion to 12 points.
The Knights, who trailed by as many as 13, scored 12 points in the final 44 seconds as they trimmed the deficit to five with 12 seconds remaining in the game. Four consecutive free throws in the final 20 seconds by Montevallo junior guard Jonas Brown, however, allowed the Falcons to preserve the victory and clinch their first trip to the NCAA II national championship game.
Rivera led all players with 23 points and 11 rebounds, while Hightower chipped in 13 points. Brown, who had five assists, also added 13 points, while senior guard Antoine Davis finished with 12 points.
“We lost to an incredibly talented basketball team. A well-coached team. A very solid team,” Bellarmine head coach Scott Davenport said. “They were tremendous on the backboard. They presented great quickness problems for us. We wish them the best Saturday afternoon.”
Junior guard Chris Dowe led the Knights with 18 points and nine rebounds, while junior guard Jeremy Kendle contributed about 16 points and five assists. Senior guard Braydon Hobbs, the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Player of the Year, finished with 13 points.
Montevallo, which faces Western Washington for the national championship Saturday at 1 p.m., outrebounded the Knights 44-28. The Falcons shot 53.6 percent from the field, while the Knights were 45.9 percent from the floor. Western Washington also is making its first trip to the NCAA II championship game.
