Bellevue downs VCSU to reach NSAA Championship

WATERTOWN, S.D. -- Vinny Belcaster led four Bruins in double figures as the Bellevue University men's basketball team fended off Valley City State University 72-66 in the North Star Athletic Association semifinals on Saturday evening.

Bellevue improves their overall record to 19-12 and will face top-seeded Viterbo University – with whom they shared the NSAA regular-season title – in tomorrow's championship game at 4 p.m. Valley City ends their season with an 18-11 overall record.

Belcaster scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting. Paulo Araujo scored 14 and pulled down seven rebounds while Justin Motley and Taylor Pomeroy dropped in 12 apiece.

Duoth Gach was the lone starter in double figures for the Vikings with 23 points on 10-of-13 shooting. The other four VCSU starters combined for just 11 points including leading scorer Kevin Schramm limited to just two points. Cayden Rickard scored 13 and Jalen Addison chipped in 11 off the bench.

Bellevue opened the game with a 6-1 lead before Valley City recorded their first field goal at the 16:16 mark.

That kicked off a 9-0 Viking run, prompting a BU timeout that preceded Defensive Player of the Year Justin Motley picked up his second foul at the 12:30 mark. Bellevue answered that early adversity with a 7-0 run to take a 13-12 lead at the media timeout.

The Bruins stretched their lead to as many as five points, 26-21, when Belcaster spun and banked a shot off the glass before taking a 29-27 advantage into the locker room. Belcaster led all scorers with 13 points at the half and Paulo Araujo added seven on 3-of-4 shooting for BU.

Gach had seven at the break for the Vikings and Daevonte Munson tossed in six.

BU kicked off the second half with an 11-5 run, highlighted by a three from Pomeroy and an old-fashioned three-point play from Belcaster, to go up 40-32 at the 16:04 mark.

In a big momentum run, that included a technical foul to Valley's Chris Thompson, Bellevue further stretched the advantage to 47-38 after Pomeroy's second trey.

Valley fought back to pull within five, but BU again answered with an 8-2 run capped off by a steal and score from Araujo to take their largest lead of the game, 61-50.

The Bruins kept Bellevue at arm's length until a 6-0 Viking run cut the deficit to 64-63. Belcaster answered with a driving layup at the other end before Valley City's Thompson found himself in the paint alone but blew a dunk and Bellevue secured the rebound.

After Motley grabbed an offensive board and scored a put-back to go up 68-63 with 37.9 seconds remaining.

Bellevue on 4-of-5 free throws in the final 18.8 seconds to hang on for the win.