>>SOUTHERN INDIANA — The 2008-09 season was a historic one for the Bellarmine men’s basketball program.

For the first time in school history, the Knights reached the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division II tournament. In addition, they came close to acquiring their first-ever Elite Eight berth, but lost in overtime to eventual national champion Findlay in the Midwest Regional final, 89-86.

Despite accomplishing something that has never been done at the private Louisville university, the Bellarmine players are not satisfied with that lone achievement.

The Knights want to do more.

A lot more.

“That was kind of our theme of the year — we want more,” Bellarmine junior guard and former Providence standout Justin Benedetti said. “I think we had a taste of it last year. We were so close. We’re just hungry for more.”

Benedetti and his teammates, including New Albany graduate Braydon Hobbs and Jeffersonville alumnus Jeremy Kendle, will get their chance for redemption this weekend as they return to the NCAA tournament’s Midwest Regional.

The Knights (22-8) face Central State (22-5) in the regional’s first round at 3:30 p.m. today in Owensboro, Ky. If Bellarmine wins, it will play in Sunday’s regional semifinals at 6 p.m. The championship will be at 8 p.m. on Tuesday.

Even though he was not part of the program last year, Kendle knows how much the Knights want to claim a regional championship and reach the Elite Eight March 24-27 in Springfield, Mass.

“I’ve watched the Findlay game multiple times,” said Kendle, a junior. “And seeing those guys being close to making it, and seeing how hard they work and how much it hurt them to lose, that just motivates me even more. That’s especially the case for the seniors.

“To make it to the Elite Eight and possibly win a national championship, it would be an awesome experience for all of us. The seniors definitely deserve it.”

Hobbs, a 6-foot-5 sophomore guard, thinks last season’s experience in the regional will help the Knights this time around.

“It’s definitely going to help from an experience standpoint,” he said. “We’ve got three new guys that haven’t been through it before. But we’ve got veterans on the team that can tell them how to get through it. The experience standpoint is definitely going to help us in the tournament. We definitely know what to expect and what we need to do to get back to the championship.”

Bellarmine automatically qualified for the NCAA tournament by pulling off an unprecedented feat last weekend in Springfield, Ill.

For the first time in program history, the Knights captured the Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament title by knocking off rival Kentucky Wesleyan, which is the No. 1 seed in this weekend’s regional, in last Sunday’s final, 79-69.

“It was one of our goals that we set for our team at the middle of the season — to win the GLVC Championship,” Benedetti said. “I think we were really playing our best basketball at the time. We came together at the right time and we had each other’s backs through that stretch of games. We really defended well as a team. We rebounded well and passed the ball well.”

Standout individual performances by Kendle and Hobbs during the tournament assisted the Knights in claiming the GLVC crown.

Kendle scored a game-high 31 points, shooting 13-of-26 from the field, and led Bellarmine in rebounding with 10 boards.

That effort enabled the former Jeff star to be named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. But Kendle credited his coaches and teammates for putting him in a position to claim the honor.

“It could have went to any of us,” said Kendle, who transferred to Bellarmine after an injury-plagued junior-college stint at Olney Central in Illinois. “I really have to give a lot of credit to the coaches for giving me an opportunity to play here and the guys for really pushing me all year and really believing in me.

“It was a great honor because to sit out three to 3 1/2 years (due to injury) and to come back and get an award like that is pretty special.”

In the GLVC semifinal victory over Drury, Hobbs was the star for the Knights. The 2008 Indiana All-Star recorded a triple-double in the 85-65 win, scoring 13 points and registering game highs in assists (11) and rebounds (10). Hobbs’ 11 assists set a new GLVC Tourney record and earned him a spot on the all-tournament team.

“We played as a team,” Hobbs said about winning the conference crown. “That’s what we’ve got to strive on because we’re not going to be more athletic or faster than anybody. We’ve got to play as a team.”

After squaring off against each other in high school, Hobbs, Benedetti and Kendle have developed a great bond with each other as teammates.

This is the second season Hobbs and Benedetti have been college teammates. Plus they have been great friends since they were youngsters growing up in New Albany.

Kendle has fit right in with his Southern Indiana natives and has enjoyed having them as teammates.

“It’s been awesome,” Kendle said. “They really know the game and they make their teammates around them better. That’s what coach (Scott Davenport) keeps stressing to me. He says I’m a great player, but what I really need to work on is making my teammates better. In just being around them, I’ve really learned a lot, as far as working to make my teammates better.

“Braydon, there are no words to really explain him and his talent. And J.B., he’s probably one of the best shooters I’ve ever played with. It’s been a fun year with those guys.”

Kendle leads the Knights in scoring (17.7 points per game) and rebounding (5.8) this season and earned a spot on the all-GLVC second team. Benedetti and Hobbs, who both landed on the all-conference third team, have welcomed Kendle with open arms.

“He makes our team go,” Benedetti said. “He can go by anybody on offense. He distributes the ball very well and he knocks down shots. He’s our quickest player. I knew he was an extremely good player and he would help us out.”



BELLARMINE TRIO TIDBITS

• Braydon Hobbs’ next assist will give him 300 in his career, putting the former New Albany standout seventh on Bellarmine’s all-time list. His triple-double against Drury in last week’s Great Lakes Valley Conference Tournament was the second in Knight history.

• Jeffersonville native Jeremy Kendle’s 530 points this season rank him 10th on Bellarmine’s all-time list for most points in a season.

• Former Providence star Justin Benedetti is currently tied for third on Bellarmine’s list for career 3-pointers (137).