Knights fight through the Division ll tournament on the hopes of winning it all.

The Knights made it to the final four in the Division ll tournament, but come up short after a good postseason run for the title.

The Bellarmine Knights finished the season 32-4 and made it to the final four. Rusty Troutman, Bullitt East Alumni, led the team to a long run in the postseason. With the leadership of Coach Scott Davenport, the Knights hope to make it back to the final four next season.

The Knights finished conference play with a record of 17-1 and went undetected at home with a record of 16-0. The Knights lost in the final four to top seeded Fairmont State University by a final score of 79-68 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Making it to the final four was an exciting experience for many of the players. Bellarmine basketball player and Bullitt East alumni, Rhett Troutman said, “Making it to the final four is such a huge accomplishment. Being one of the last four teams in college basketball says a lot about our team.” Rhett is a junior so he will have a chance to return to the postseason tournament next season.

The team had many keys to success during the season. “The keys to our success was trusting in our fundamentals. We focused heavily on rebounding and team defense and those two things, along with our ability to share the ball helped us be successful,” said Rhett. Bellarmine won the National Championship in 2011.

Rhett’s brother Rusty also plays on the team. Rusty led the team and was first on team in 3-pointers made (60) and second on the team in scoring (15.2). He was also received honorable-mention All-American by Division ll (DII) Bulletin, first-team All-Midwest Region by the NABC, named first-team All-GLVC, chosen Most Outstanding Player of NCAA Midwest Regional and selected to All-GLVC Tournament Team. “I just wanted to lead my team and do what I could to help us win,” said Rusty.

The school supported their team all the way through the tournament. “Our school has so much spirit and our community loves Bellarmine basketball. It was remarkable to see our students and fans make that 800 mile journey to South Dakota. Their support helped us the entire season,” said Rhett.

Coach Davenport has propelled the team to new levels since he took over the program in 2005. Under Davenport, Bellarmine remains one of the premier programs in Division II. In 2015-16, Davenport guided the Knights to their second-straight Great Lakes Valley Conference East Division regular-season title (15-3) and a 23-7 overall finish, marking the eighth straight season of at least 23 total victories and 12 GLVC wins. “Coach D is always preaching to us about caring and loving one another. From day one he has trusted us and we have trusted him and the rest of the coaching staff to do what we all needed to do to be successful. Throughout the season we kept building on that and we became closer as a team for it. This team was the closest team I’ve ever been apart of, and it showed off and on the court, time in and time out. We held each other accountable for mistakes and praised one another when we succeeded,” said Rhett.

“I think they look good will have a lot of experience. Looking forward to see what they are gonna do,” said Rusty. The team hopes to have the same success next season.