The William Jewell men's basketball team saw the best since in the NCAA era come to a close on Saturday evening with a 65-70 loss at the hands of top seed and No. 4 ranked Bellarmine at the Great Lakes Valley Conference tournament. The Cardinals end the season with a 20-9 overall record. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jewell battled foul trouble from the beginning but still led by as many as seven in the opening 20 minutes. Down 26-25, The Cards went on an 8-0 run led by five points from Keith Hayes to take a 33-26 advantage. The Knights cut the lead to two just before the half as the teams went to the locker room with a 34-32 score. 
• Jewell started the second half slowly as Bellarmine scored the first five points to take a 37-34 lead just under two minutes into the half. The two teams traded buckets and leads over the next five minutes before the Knights went on a 8-1 run to go up by a score of 54-47 with under ten minutes to play. After back-to-back three pointers by Pharroh Gordon pulled the Cardinals within one, Bellarmine expanded the lead back to five. However, Jewell did not go quietly in the final minutes as senior Easton Koch knocked down two free throws to make it a three point contest with under a minute to go. Patrick Whelan hit a lay up to make it 66-65 with just 22 seconds on the clock but the Cards could get no closer falling 70-65. 

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• The Cardinals owned the paint, outscoring Bellarmine 40-26. 
• Jewell held the Knights to just 48 percent from the floor, their third lowest percentage this season and without a three point field goal for the first time this year. 

LEADERS OF THE FLIGHT

• Gordon led the Cardinals with 22 points and 12 rebounds for his 14th double-double of the season. 
• Hayes added 13 points and Whelan 12. 
• Byron Harp dished out four assists while Nick Bradley swiped three steals. 

YOU SHOULD NOTE

• The 14 double-doubles from Gordon is the most in the NCAA era and just short of the 19 grabbed by All-American Nick Larson during the 2010-11 season. 
• The loss marked the final game for four seniors, Whelan, Koch, Emil Ostafiiciuc, and Brandon Scheer.
• Whelan closes his career on the top 20 all-time lists in multiple categories including pouring in 1,617 career points, which is 12th all-time.
• Ostafiiciuc graduates as one of Jewell's all-time best shot blockers with 73 career rejections, good enough for seventh all-time. 
• Koch played in nearly 100 career games while Scheer is a two-time Academic All-GLVC selection.