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SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – James Hollowell scored a career-high 26 points with eight rebounds, but No. 14 Bellarmine used a late 7-0 run to break open a tie game and defeat UIndy, 67-61, in the first round of the NCAA Championship Midwest Regional at the O'Reilly Family Event Center.

The No. 3 seed Knights (23-7) advance to the regional semis to face second-seeded Southern Indiana, which defeated Wayne State in the second game of the day.

The No. 6 seed Greyhounds (20-9) finish the year with 20 wins for the second season in a row and third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

UIndy trailed by 15 points, 49-34, with 12:36 to go when it started to come back on Bellarmine. The Greyhounds put together a 24-8 run to tie the score, 57-all, with 2:38 to go when Hollowell's three-pointer from the top of the key bounced off the back and front of the rim before falling through. 


The Greyhounds wouldn't score for the next 2:20 as the Knights hit 7-of-8 free throws to hold off the Hounds.

"It boils down, like I told our guys in the locker room, to a tale of two halves," head coach Stan Gouard said. "You've got to give Bellarmine credit ... they've been here before, and they made the plays down the stretch to win the game."

 "That's GLVC Basketball," Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport said. "Indianapolis is a very difficult, athletic team to play against. But I thought we played with great poise and execution down the stretch."

UIndy's defense stiffened in the second half as it held Bellarmine to only seven field goals and 30.4 percent shooting. In fact, The Knights didn't make a field goal in the final 5:40 after Max Clemons' lay-up gave them a 10-point lead, 54-44.

What the Knights were able to do was get to the charity stripe. Bellarmine converted on 13-of-16 in the final 3:39.

After Hollowell's three-pointer tied the game, the Greyhounds forced a stop on a missed three-pointer by Clemons. UIndy was unable to take the lead as Reece Cheatham missed a deep three-pointer on the right wing. On the ensuing possession, Tyrae Robinson fouled out trying to stop Keisten Jones from posting up and he made both free throws with 1:16 left to put BU back in front, 59-57.

Cheatham drove the lane for a lay-up on the next trip and had his shot blocked back to him. As he was falling out of bounds, he threw the ball away to Bellarmine and UIndy fouled Vance Hall. He converted both free throws with 59 seconds left to increase the BU lead to four, 61-57.

Over the next two possessions, the Greyhounds missed three from behind the arc with one by Hollowell and two by Cheatham and the Knights salted the game away at the line.

In his final game in a UIndy uniform, Hollowell shot 9-of-15 from the field, including 5-of-7 three-pointers, while adding eight rebounds. Brennan McElroy scored the first eight points of the second half for UIndy on his way to 12 points, nine rebounds, two assists, one block and one steal. Cheatham added 11 points, five rebounds and two assists, but missed all five of his three-point attempts.

Overall, UIndy shot 41.7 percent (20-48) with 6-of-16 three-pointers and 15-of-20 free throws. The Knights finished at 43.8 percent (21-48) with 4-of-20 three-pointers and 21-of-25 free throws.

The Greyhounds stuggled with 16 turnovers, including nine in the first half when they fell behind by 14. Bellarmine had 10 for the game, but held a slim 13-11 lead in points off turnovers.

Both teams finished with 10 second-chance points as the Greyhounds finished with a 33-28 lead on the glass.

Bellarmine was led by Chris Dowe with 13 points, three rebounds, three steals and two assists, while Vance Hall added 13 points and four rebounds. Jelani Johnson scored 11 for the Knights.

The Greyhounds started off well as Hollowell scored the first six points, including a trail three-pointer to put his team up four, 6-2, with 17:16 to play. From that point forward it was all Knights. They held the Greyhounds scoreless for the next 10:05 with a 21-0 run to lead by 17, 23-6, with 7:26 to go in the half. UIndy went 0-of-7 from the field and committed eight turnovers before Cheatham drove and found McElroy for a lay-up with 7:11 left in the half.

That started a 10-4 run that pulled the Greyhounds within nine, 27-18, after McElroy made two free throws after making a steal with 3:20 left. The Knights recovered and Ryan Burton banked in a three-pointer from the top of the key with 28 seconds left in the half to put BU up 14, 37-23, at the break.

UIndy shot 38.1 percent (8-21) overall, despite making 3-of-5 three-pointers, but also committed nine turnovers. The Knights countered by making 14-of-25 (.560) overall, 4-of-13 from distance and had four turnovers.

The Greyhounds lose only one player, Hollowell, from this season's team and will welcome IU Southeast transfer Joe Lawson to the active roster next season. Among the returners will be Second Team All-GLVC guard Cheatham and GLVC All-Defensive Team honorees Robinson and Daniel Daudu. Starters McElroy and Leland Brown also have eligibility remaining.