23rd-ranked Dordt tops BU to open NWC/Pizza Ranch Classic

ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- A hot shooting day by 23^rd-ranked Dordt University was too much for the Bellevue University men's basketball team to overcome as the Bruins fell 98-74 on Friday afternoon at the NWC/Pizza Ranch Classic.

Dordt stays unbeaten, improving to 5-0 while Bellevue remains winless, sliding to 0-5.

Jerome Bynum and TJ Fritz led five Bruins in double figures with 16 points apiece. Nigel Wilson joined them in double figures with 13 points as did Jaden Phillips with 10 as well as a team-high five rebounds.

The Defenders were paced by Lucas Lorenzen's 23 points, as all five Dordt starters scored 10-plus on the day. Luke Rankin added 15 and Jake Hargens tossed in 13 while Bryce Coppock and Ben Fairclough chipped in 10 apiece.

The Defenders started hot, scoring the game's first eight points as they made their first three field goals and a pair of free throws before a 10-2 Bruins run, bookended by three-pointers from Wilson and Fritz.

Bellevue took their first lead at the 13:12 mark on a three-pointer from Bynum, part of a larger 8-0 run that saw BU grab an 18-14 advantage.

Trailing by one, Dordt slid back in front following an old-fashioned three-point play by Connor Millikan which Fritz answered on the other end with another bucket from deep.

The Bruins, who had taken pretty good care of the ball up to that point turned it over seven times in the final 10:10 of the half as Dordt closed the half by out-scoring BU 25-13 to take a 46-34 lead into the break.

The Defenders led by as many as 12 on a pair of occasions following a layup by Luke Rankin with 43 seconds remaining and a three from Rankin to end the half.

Three-point shooting kept the game close for much of the first half as Bellevue hit on six of their first 15 attempts while Dordt missed their first five attempts from long-range before closing out the half by hitting on their final four attempts from distance.

Hargens led all players with 10 at the break for Dordt while Coppock added nine and Rankin chipped in seven.

The Bruins were led in the first half by Wilson's nine points as four players accounted for the vast majority of the scoring. Phillips scored eight, Bynum added seven, and Fritz contributed six in the half.

Bellevue and Dordt traded barbs in the opening minutes of the second half as the Defender lead bounced from 11-15 points until Dordt rattled off a 11-2 run to take command of the game 68-45.

Dordt seemingly played on cruise control the rest of the way, growing the lead to as many as 27 points before ultimately securing the 24-point victory.

Point guard Caleb Chiang made his Bruin debut after missing the first four games with an injury.

Bellevue shot 47% from the floor and went 6-of-9 at the free throw line while Dordt shot it at a 62% clip and hit 20-of-27 from the charity stripe.

The Bruins are back in action tomorrow at 4 p.m. taking on host #18 Northwestern College to close out the NWC/Pizza Ranch Classic.