Clemson Gets By Determined Bellarmine Squad 76-66

Brad Brownell's Tigers knocked off Bellarmine at home on Friday night, giving Clemson wins in back-to-back games for the first time this season.

Ken Ruinard /USA TODAY NETWORK

After taking down an ACC opponent in Louisville in their season-opener, Bellarmine came into Littlejohn Coliseum on Monday night looking for a repeat performance against Clemson.

However, the Knights would go cold late and the Tigers shot 48% from beyond the arc as Clemson downed upset-minded Bellarmine 76-66. The Knights shot 43% on the night and 41% from 3-point land.

Chase Hunter had the hot hand for Brad Brownell's team, pouring in 15 points and 8 assists, shooting 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Brevin Galloway added 14, hitting on 4 of his 7 field goal attempts.

"That was a good win," Brownell said. "Those guys were tough. Tough physical group. Extremely disciplined taking care of the ball. Guard you hard, invert their offense. So they posted their guards a lot. The big guys can shoot threes. It's a low-possession game because they grind you so much with long possessions. So efficiency on offense is really important."

Bash Weiland led the way for Bellarmine with 16 points, going 5-of-9 from the floor. Juston Betz also added 12 points on 3-of-8 shooting but was just 1-of-5 from 3-point land.  

Midway through the second half, Bellarmine would take advantage of an extended Clemson scoring drought that lasted more than four minutes, using a 7-0 run to take a 44-41 lead, giving Scott Davenport's team its first lead of the game.

The Tigers would battle back, though, with Ian Schefflin scoring four consecutive points to help put Clemson up 58-51 with just under six minutes remaining. The Knights never got closer than four the rest of the way, as the Tigers would push the lead to 15 points at 74-59 with under two minutes to play.

"(Schefflin) did a nice job," Brownell said. "They went small, we were a little smaller. Didn't have PJ (Hall) out there, went with Ian and we felt like Ian could score some in there and he did."

Schefflin had a strong second half for Clemson, scoring 11 of his 13 points after the break. The sophomore was a perfect 5-of-5 from the free throw line. Hunter Tyson added 11 points, going 3-of-5 from deep.

PJ Hall also scored 10 in just 19 minutes of action, giving the Tigers five different players in double figures.

"Really happy with the way we had to fight, show fight down the stretch, to get a good win," Brownell said.

Clemson's odds of winning the ACC regular season championship are currently +9500, according to Fanduel.com.. 

The win moves Clemson to 3-1 on the season while the loss drops Bellarmine to 2-2.

Up Next: Clemson will host Loyola-Maryland on Monday inside Littlejohn Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on ACCNX.