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ASUN Championship: 3 reasons to back the Knights in Freedom Hall 

If you’ve never attended a Bellarmine basketball game before, this is your prime chance. In just their second year of NCAA Division I play, the Knights have advanced to the 2022 ASUN Championship game, where they will face the Jacksonville Dolphins at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 8 in Freedom Hall. 

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Bellarmine has been part of plenty of high-stakes games in NCAA Division II, including winning the D-II national title game in 2011, but this is the university’s biggest home game since joining D-I.  

It promises to be a great time and a great game, one for the history books. You won’t want to miss out. 

If you’re on the fence about whether to , or tune in tonight to ESPN2, here are a few good reasons to get in on the action. 

Everyone’s Feeling It 

The excitement is palpable in Kentuckiana. Bellarmine pride is literally beaming from the Louisville mayor’s office to the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs.  

Louisville Metro Mayor Greg Fischer decreed in our fair city. Meanwhile, Churchill Downs lit the legendary Twin Spires scarlet, too, casting a Bellarmine glow throughout the world’s most famous horse track.  

There’s been wall-to-wall news coverage, as document this excellent matchup.  

It's a Historic Game 

The champion of the ASUN, like with all other NCAA Division I conferences, receives an automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament. Normally, the winner of the conference tournament would be guaranteed a berth in the Big Dance and get to celebrate hearing its name called on Selection Sunday. However, even if Bellarmine wins Tuesday night, the Knights are ineligible to participate in the NCAA Tournament because they are in only Year 2 of a mandatory four-year transitionary period that must be completed before new D-I programs can compete for national championships. If Bellarmine wins the ASUN Tournament, then regular-season conference champ Jacksonville State will get the automatic bid.   

 

It’ll Be a Rowdy Good Time 

Last year, Bellarmine’s basketball program moved to , which is a storied, hallowed hall of basketball fame.  

It’s been said that there is no better venue to watch basketball than Freedom Hall, and we can’t disagree. This is the biggest game in town this week, and our classic arena is the perfect venue for a championship atmosphere. 

Freedom Hall holds nearly 16,000 spectators for a basketball event and this game promises to be loud and proud. Tickets are moving fast and the Bellarmine community will move out, in force, from campus starting at 4:15 p.m. Bellarmine will run a shuttle from campus to the game for faculty, staff and students and we expect the biggest, loudest Bellarmine section we’ve had since moving to D-I. 

Let’s go!