Bellarmine Buzzer Beater, NKU Baseball Cycle Steal Headlines

Small Kentucky colleges are stealing the national sports spotlight as March approaches. The Bellarmine basketball team kicked off the Madness the right way, while one Northern Kentucky baseball player pulled off an improbable feat on the diamond.

A year after Bellarmine shocked the college basketball world by winning the ASUN Conference Tournament in their first season among the Division I ranks, the Knights were the first team to tip-off a postseason college basketball tournament. Monday night they opened ASUN play against North Florida, just a few days after falling to the Ospreys. The game provided plenty of last-minute theatrics.

Bellarmine led by as much as 5 points with under a minute to play, but North Florida came clawing back. A pair of three-pointers got the Ospreys within one score while Bellarmine struggled from the free throw line. The Knights gave up a wide open North Florida dunk to tie the game with nine seconds on the clock. Juston Betz bet on himself and rock-a-byed a fadeaway through the rim with less than a second remaining to lift Bellarmine to a 76-74 victory, opening conference tournament season with a BANG.

JUSTON BETZ FOR THE WIN ‼️

WE ARE MOVING ON ‼️ pic.twitter.com/lhVWHbQGmy

— Bellarmine Men’s Basketball (@BUKnightsMBB) February 28, 2023

Bellarmine advances to play host Liberty tonight at 7 pm. The Knights are 17-point underdogs. You can watch the action on ESPN+.

Northern Kentucky Baseball Player Does the Unthinkable

Liam McFadden-Ackman hit for the cycle, and it wasn’t even the most remarkable moment from Northern Kentucky’s 27-4 win over Western Michigan. The junior from Mason, OH started his day by hitting a pair of grand slams in the first inning. That accomplishment has only been done once in Major League Baseball, by Fernando Tatis Sr. in 1999.

McFadden-Ackman doubled in the second inning, tripled and lined out in the fourth and singled in the sixth to complete the cycle. He finished the day 5-for-6 with 10 RBIs. Not too shabby. He celebrated the occasion by joining SportsCenter.

.@LMack85 hits the 𝗕𝗜𝗚 𝗦𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗡 📺

Liam McFadden-Ackman joins @SportsCenter 𝗟𝗜𝗩𝗘 after he goes for two grand slams in the first inning + finishes the day w/ the cycle by the sixth in NKU's 27-4 dub

𝘍𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘝𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘰 – https://t.co/4r8iF2xJU4@NKUNorse | #NorseUp pic.twitter.com/Piata0sxYf

— NKU Baseball (@NKUNorseBSB) February 27, 2023

Undefeated Transy Women’s Basketball Team Begins NCAA Tournament

The Transylvania women’s basketball team will begin its quest for a National Championship unscathed. The 27-0 Pioneers recently took home their fifth straight Heartland Conference Tournament with an 85-58 victory over No. 2 seed Hanover.

Transy has won 54 of its last 55 games, with its only loss in the last two seasons coming in the Elite Eight of last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Pioneers have never won a National Championship. They’ll try to change that starting Friday when they host Rhodes College at the Clive M. Beck Center in Lexington at 8:15 p.m. If the Pioneers win, they’ll return for the Round of 32 the following night at 8:30 p.m.