Balanced effort secures BU sweep at Viterbo Classic

LA CROSSE, Wis. -- Picking up right where they left off last night, the Bellevue University men's basketball team turned in another strong offensive performance as the Bruins dispatched Cardinal Stritch University 81-71 on Saturday afternoon to close out the Viterbo Classic unbeaten.

Bellevue moved back above the .500 mark, improving to 5-4 while Stritch dropped to 2-5 on the year.

Eric Pierce finished with 15 points, seven rebounds, and four steals to lead a quartet of BU players in double figures. Vinny Belcaster scored 14 and dished out four assists, Justin Motley added 13 and a team-high eight rebounds, and Taylor Pomeroy scored 11.

In all, eight of the nine Bruins who appeared in the game scored at least six points.

Bellevue fired on all cylinders in the first half, shooting 56 percent from the flooring and draining 7-of-12 treys (58%) to lead by as many as 21 points in the opening 20 minutes.

Play was tight early; with the score tied at six apiece three minutes in before Pierce hit a three-pointer to give Bellevue the lead for good. That kicked off a 15-2 run that saw the Bruins take command of the game 21-8 over the next 4:40.

Stritch did not pull closer than 11 for the remainder of the half. Leading by 12, BU turned up the intensity over the final 3:04. The Bruins forced a pair of turnovers and missed shots as they ran off an 11-2 run to take their largest lead of the game on an and-one from Christian Carter.

Mason Khalu made a layup in the final seconds of the half to bring the deficit under 20 for the Wolves.

Belcaster led all scorers with 14 points in the half with Pierce adding 10 as the Bruins led 49-30 at intermission.

Stritch came out of the break strong, opened the second half on a 12-1 run to pull to within eight points, 50-42.

After turning the ball over just five times in the first half, Bellevue committed four turnovers and missed five shots before Paulo Araujo made their Bruins' first field goal, seven minutes into the second half.

The BU lead hovered between 8 and 12 points until Christian Carter scored five-straight points, putting the Bruins up 67-51. Carter drained a corner three off a kick-out from Belcaster and had a fast break layup counted when Stritch was called for goaltending.

The Bruins took control from there, running their lead back up to 21 points before a 11-1 Stritch run that saw the Wolves pull to within 11, 78-67. Time, ultimately ran out on Stritch as Bellevue hung on for the 10-point win.

Bellevue did a much better job defending Nakyel Shelton – who scored 28 points while adding nine rebounds and four steals in the first meeting between the two clubs – as they limited him to 11 points (all in the second half) on 4-of-10 shooting on Saturday.

The Bruins shot 53 percent for the game, hitting on 9-of-18 threes and sank 22-of-29 free throws (76%).

Bellevue next plays at the Draemel Classic, hosted by Midland University in Fremont, Neb. The Bruins face Mount Marty (3-5) on Saturday, Nov. 27 at 3 p.m. before meeting host Midland (5-2) Sunday, Nov. 28 at 3 p.m.