Juston Betz Buzzer beater

Teammates swarm Juston Betz (center) after his game-winning shot to beat North Florida in the first round of the ASUN Tournament at Liberty University on Feb. 27, 2023.

 Bellarmine basketball photo

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – In its fourth game away from home in 7 days, the Bellarmine men’s basketball team got a fadeaway baseline jumper from graduate captain Juston Betz to bounce in with 0.4 seconds left to beat North Florida 76-74 in the first round of the ASUN Conference Tournament at Liberty Monday night.

And a team that has dealt with numerous injuries, bus trips, airline delays and that is playing without the hope of any NCAA Tournament or NIT bid on the horizon keeps making magic for the love of advancing.

It was the fourth straight conference tournament victory for a program that stunned the league by winning the postseason tournament a year ago in its second season of NCAA Division I transition.

It will face host Liberty on Tuesday night at 7 in the tournament quarterfinals. But before considering that task, the Knights got to soak in a moment in which a sixth-year senior who has two Bellarmine degrees and is working on a third hit the first buzzer-beating game-winning shot of his career.

“I got a good bounce,” Betz told ESPN after the game.

The New Albany, Ind., native was quick to credit teammates after spending much of the second half on the bench with four fouls. In fact, his game winner was his first basket of the half.

After being named to the ASUN All-Freshman team earlier in the day, Ben Johnson scored 26 off the bench for Bellarmine, while fellow ASUN All-Freshman selection Peter Suder had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

“We have a lot of trust in each other,” Betz said. “I got in foul trouble, but they all stepped up.”

Bellarmine led 71-66 with 55 seconds left, but UNF made a pair of threes and a dunk in the closing minute. The slam by Carter Hendrickson with 9 seconds left gave the Knights enough time to advance the ball and create a good look. Betz got it to the right of the lane and rose with a shot that looked short to Scott Davenport, but took a bounce on the rim and fell through.

“That shot defied gravity,” Davenport told Doug Ormay and Mark Bugg in his postgame radio interview on ESPN Radio 680. “It was short. It was falling short and somehow it went. And has there ever been a more deserving player? He told me walking off that he'd never hit a shot like that in his life. And you know that’s a shot that he has been practicing in individual instruction for six years. I mean, there's no words to describe it.”

That didn’t stop Davenport from looking for a few more. For Betz, who has been the face of Bellarmine’s program, and in some ways the face of its appeal to the NCAA to change an archaic rule to allow it to play in some kind of NCAA-sanctioned postseason event last season, to earn his team one more postseason game, seemed fitting to his coach.

“There should be a statue of Justin Betz in Indianapolis outside the NCAA headquarters,” Davenport said. “For all that kid stands for.”

Every time UNF would put a head in front in the second half, Johnson would make a big shot, and sometimes two, to answer.

With Bellarmine trailing by one with 3:59 left, Johnson went on a 6-0 run by himself to put the Knights seemingly in control in the final minute.

Johnson finished with 4 of the Knights’ 5 three-pointers, and all of them were crucial against a North Florida team that made 14 of 30 threes.

Bellarmine’s answer came on the boards. The Knights were outrebounded by 13 by this same team in Jacksonville, Fla., last week, but used a team effort to outrebound the Ospreys 34-26 on Monday.

Garrett Tipton, who was named third team All-ASUN earlier in the day, added 11 points for Bellarmine, while Langdon Hatton finished with 8 points and a team-best 8 rebounds. Bellarmine outscored UNF 42-26 in the paint.

“You add up all the miles and hotels and meals in conference rooms and all of it, if you looked in that locker room now, and see that team waiting for Juston to come in after interviews, that’s why you love to coach,” Davenport said.

The Knights got a bit of a pregame boost in a surprise call from UCLA coach Mick Cronin, who coached with Davenport at Louisville.

“He really gave it to them, they were so fired up,” Davenport said. “And how about that? Here he’s trying to win a championship with a Final Four caliber team, and takes the time to support our guys. It’s a very special group, and we appreciate him.”

Next up for the Knights is Liberty, the league’s No. 2 seed, and a team that ranks No. 45 in the NCAA’s NET ratings. Head coach Ritchie McKay signed a deal through the 2029-30 season over the weekend.

“We have all the respect in the world for them,” Davenport said. “He’s a great coach. Their players are tough and play the right way. They’re really good. But our guys are grateful for this opportunity.”

Copyright 2023 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.