Second half run propels No. 10 Cougars past No. 14 BU, 85-76
SXU outscores BU 51-35 in the second half ... Ames named to all-tournament team ...
Box Score | Tournament Website
CHICAGO -- Fueled by a decisive 16-0 second half run, No. 10 Saint Xavier (Ill.) University defeated 14th-ranked Bellevue University, 85-76, Monday night in the championship game of the St. Xavier Midwest Tournament in nonconference action on Bob Hallberg Court at the Shannon Center.
Saint Xavier won its ninth-straight game and improved to 13-2 while Bellevue fell to 10-3.
Taylor Young led the Bruins with 14 points, five assists and one steal and Isaiah Strong registered 12 points and two assists off the bench.
Lee Ames and Dimitri Chonis both tallied 11 points. Ames, an all-tournament selection, added five rebounds and one assist while Chonis chipped in four rebounds and an assist.
Given Kalipinde finished with nine points, eight rebounds and four assists.
BU raced out to an early 11-5 advantage before the Cougars answered back and scored the next six points to tie the game at 11-all at the 13:50 mark of the period. The opening half remained close as neither team was able to lead by more than five points.
After a SXU lay-up tied the game at 34-34 with just over three minutes remaining, the Bruins finished the stanza on a 7-0 spurt to take a 41-34 lead at halftime. The first half featured eight lead changes and seven ties.
The Bruins made back-to-back 3-pointers to open the second half to take their biggest lead of the game, 47-36. SXU stormed back and scored 16-straight points to regain the lead, 52-47.
Chonis pulled BU within two, 52-50, with a 3-point basket with 13:22 left in the second stanza, but that's the closest the Bruins got as the Cougars pulled away for the nine-point win, 85-76.
The Cougars shot 56.2 percent from the field in the second half and held the Bruins to just 41.1 percent. SXU held a 20-12 edge in rebounds and forced eight BU turnovers in the second period.
SXU was paced by Brad Karp's game-high 23 points, 10 rebounds and five assists while Jack Krieger added 21 points and four rebounds.
The Bruins will be idle until Jan. 3-4 when they travel to Point Lookout, Mo. for the College of the Ozarks Classic. BU will open tournament action against MidAmerica Nazarene University before playing Ecclesia College.
Game Scoring
Bellevue.........41-35--76
Saint Xavier...34-51--85
BU: Young, 14; Strong, 12; Chonis, 11; Ames, 11; Kalipinde, 9; Hammock, 6; Droll, 6; Worthen-Harris, 5; Redstar, 2.
SXU: Karp, 23; Krieger, 21; Simpson, 14; Mawhorr, 12; Core, 10; Huppe, 5.
All-Tournament Team:
Cole Lewis (Viterbo)
Zach Steinmetz (Lourdes)
Dominez Burnett (Davenport)
Austin Semple (Aquinas)
Nick Frazier (Saint Ambrose)
Lee Ames (Bellevue)
Jack Krieger (Saint Xavier)
Brad Karp (Saint Xavier) - MVP