LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Wayne State University men's basketball program (0-4 overall) battled top-ranked Bellarmine (4-0 overall) on Saturday afternoon but fell 81-61.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Wayne State led 7-4 after a triple from Xavier Cochran (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Huron) and a fast break layup by Karim Murray (Detroit, Mich. / Western International).  However, the Knights responded and used a 9-2 run to take a 16-9 lead with 12:05 left in the first half.  The Warriors stayed close at 26-18 with 6:26 to play, after another three-pointer from Cochran and two points from Latin Davis, Jr. (Ypsilanti, Mich. / Milan).  The balanced approach pushed BU's lead to 32-18 but a trey by Darian Owens-White (Ypsilanti, Mich. / River Rouge) made it 34-24 at the 2:58 mark.  The Knights stretched the home lead back to 14, 40-26, with 46 seconds remaining in the opening stanza.  Bellarmine led 40-28 at halftime.

The Knights scored the first four points of the second half to extend their lead to 44-28 and force head coach David Greer to take an early timeout.  The margin reached 20, 48-28, at the 17:44 mark.  A offensive rebound and put-back from Javon Henderson (Detroit, Mich. / University Prep) made it 48-33.  BU seized the momentum and led 65-41 with 11:27 left to play.  The Knights began the second half 12-of-12 from the floor.  Murray was the go-to guy offensively and his four points plus a tip-in from Tristan Wilson (Ann Arbor, Mich. / Skyline) made it 69-50 at the 7:49 mark.  The Warriors continued to trail 77-57 with 3:18 left to play.  Wayne State was unable to make it interesting over the final minutes and fell 81-61.

LEADING THE WARRIORS
Murray tallied a career-high 19 points, while Owens-White and Cochran both finished with 14 points.

LEADING THE KNIGHTS
Adam Eberhard posted a game-high 24 points as three other Knights scored in double-digits.

TEAM STATS
Bellarmine shot 57.4 percent from the floor compared to WSU's 40.8 percent.  The Knights scored 25 bench points and 44 points in the paint.

UP NEXT
Wayne State will begin GLIAC play on Thursday against the reigning national champions Ferris State.  Tip-off is schedule for 7:30 p.m.