Bruins pull away from Saints with strong second half

Box Score
NSAA Standings

ABERDEEN, S.D. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team used a 20-4 run early in the second half to kick off a four-game road trip by downing host Presentation College 75-58 on Friday evening North Star Athletic Association contest from the Strode Center.

The Bruins, now winners of six-straight overall and five-in-a-row in league play, improve to 12-9 overall and 5-1 in NSAA play.

Presentation fell to 3-14 (0-4 NSAA) after suffering their ninth-straight loss.

Eric Pierce led three Bruins in double figure with a season-best 18 points and pulled down eight rebounds. Justin Motley contributed a double-double, finishing with 10 points to go along with a season- and game-high 11 rebounds. Jemeil King, who hit 3-of-5 three-point tries, added 13 and Lewis Hayes dropped in 10 on the evening.

Michael Wright added eight and Jaylen Wiltz tossed in seven in the win.

Jalonni McCorvey scored 14 to lead the Saints. Dwight Felton and Qaiyoom Olanlege joined him in double figures with 13 and 11 points, respectively.

Presentation and Bellevue traded early mini runs, with PC scoring the first four points of the game and the Bruins answering with five-straight.

The Saints took a 10-9 lead on a basket from Dwight Felton before Bellevue utilized an 8-0 run over the next 1:25 to grab the largest lead of the half by either team at 17-10.

Bellevue remained in front until a 7-0 spurt from PC, capped by a lay-in from Qaiyoom Olanlege gave the Saints their first lead since the 14:11 mark.

Wright hit a fadeaway jumper in the paint to restore the BU lead and the Bruins stretched their advantage to 27-23 on a Hayes basket with 4:57 to play.

Presentation answered back with the next five points to reclaim the lead, 28-27, but Wiltz scored on a driving layup with 20 seconds to play and Bellevue took a 29-28 lead into the halftime break.

Both teams struggled offensively in the opening 20 minutes. BU shot just 41 percent from the floor while Presentation connected on just 33 percent of their field goal attempts. Both teams were 1-of-8 from deep. The Saints attempted all 12 free throw attempts in the period, sinking nine.

Olanlege led all scorers with nine points at the break for the Saints. Wright paced the Bruins with eight points while Eric Pierce dropped in seven and Hayes added six.

Bellevue came out of the break with a 4-0 run, forcing Presentation into a pair of turnovers and a missed shot on their first three possessions. The Saints came back with four-straight of their own to pull back to within a point.

The Bruins would take control of the game from there with a 20-4 run in the ensuing 4:56 to grab a 53-36 advantage. Felton put an end to the run by converting an and-one but the damage had been done.

Bellevue continues their road swing tomorrow evening with a 5 p.m. tip-off at Mayville State University (6-1/3-0 NSAA) from the Comets' Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.