Bellarmine wins ASUN, hands NCAA bid to Jacksonville State

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — 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, handing the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament to regular-season champion Jacksonville State. The Knights, in the second of a four-year transition to D-1, became heroes in Jacksonville, Alabama. Top-seeded JSU fell at home 54-51 to the Dolphins on Saturday, but since Bellarmine is ineligible for the NCAA Tournament, the Gamecocks will go dancing. Bellarmine 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.