Bellarmine wins Atlantic Sun tournament but is ineligible for March Madness
Jacksonville will go to NCAA Tournament instead
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bellarmine may have won the Atlantic Sun Conference Tournament on Tuesday, but the Knights will be unable to go dancing due to NCAA rules.
Bellarmine defeated Jacksonville 77-72 but is ineligible for the tournament because NCAA rules state reclassification from Division II to Division I will take four years. The Knights won the Division II championship in 2011.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bellarmine guard CJ Fleming (25) drives past Jacksonville guard Jordan Davis (11) during the second half of an NCAA college basketball for the championship game at the Atlantic Sun Conference men's tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. Bellarmine won 77-72. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
It was the Knights’ second season in Division I.
"We've made it a point to control what we can control, and that's it," Bellarmine guard Juston Betz said after the game. "We'll continue to be in the moment and never take for granted where we are."
Jacksonville, the Atlantic Sun’s regular-season champion, will be back in the tournament. The Gamecocks moved to the A-Sun from the Ohio Valley Conference and will be in the Big Dance for the first time since 2017. The team was the No. 15 and lost in the first round.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Bellarmine guard CJ Fleming hugs his fiancee, Lexy Hoffman, after Bellarmine's 77-72 victory over Jacksonville in an NCAA college basketball game for the championship in the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
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Bellarmine's C.J. Fleming scored a career-high 27 points and teammate Dylan Penn scored 22 points.
Penn was named tournament MVP.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"It's kind of surreal. It feels like we're in a movie. We weren't supposed to be competing at such a high level this early," Penn added.
Bellarmine finished the 2021-22 season with 20 wins.
Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport shouts instructions to the team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball against Jacksonville for the championship of the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament in Louisville, Kentucky, Tuesday, March 8, 2022. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
"I don't know how any coach at any level of any sport could be more proud than I am," Bellarmine coach Scott Davenport said. "My highlight of this journey is seeing this team celebrate each other. That locker room was one of the highlights of my life."
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Selection Sunday is set for March 13.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.