Division I newcomer Bellarmine wins Atlantic Sun championship but ineligible for NCAA tournament

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — CJ Fleming scored a career-high 27 points, Dylan Penn added 22 and Division I newcomer Bellarmine defeated Jacksonville 77-72 in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament on Tuesday, handing the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament to regular-season champion Jacksonville State.

Bellarmine is not eligible for the NCAA tournament as it is in the second of a four-year transition to Division I. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, Bellarmine is the first men's team in the past 25 seasons to win its conference tournament while being ineligible for postseason play.

Instead, the Knights became heroes in Jacksonville, Alabama. Top-seeded Jacksonville State fell at home 54-51 to the Jacksonville Dolphins on Saturday, but since Bellarmine is ineligible for the NCAA tournament, the Gamecocks will go dancing.

Bellarmine, a recent Division II power and 2011 champion, defeated Liberty, the other ASUN division champion, 53-50 on the road on Saturday. Jacksonville, which joined the ASUN in 1998, was seeking its first league championship and first NCAA berth in 36 years.

Including its Division II history, this marks Bellarmine's 13th 20-win campaign in the past 14 seasons.

The Knights (20-13) made 11 of 12 free throws in the last two minutes with Fleming perfect on eight, to hold off Jacksonville, which made 5 of 8 field goals, two of them 3s, down the stretch.

Jordan Davis scored 22 points for the Dolphins (21-10), which lost the only regular-season meeting 76-73 in overtime in the same building, and Osayi Osifo and Tyreese Davis had 11 each.

Penn, Juston Betz and Curt Hopf hit consecutive 3-pointers to give Bellarmine a 9-4 lead and Sam DeVault added back-to-back triples as the Knights started red hot. Penn's