Offense leads the way as Bruins buck Hastings, 92-79

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Jaden Phillips, Ahamad Bynum, and RJ Smith combined for 66 points to lead the Bellevue University men's basketball team to a 92-79 victory over Hastings College on Saturday evening in the final game of the Chick-fil-A Bellevue Classic.

With the win, Bellevue stands at 2-0 on the young season, while the loss drops Hastings to 0-2.
Phillips tallied a game-high 24 points on 9-17 shooting. Ahamad Bynum picked up his second-straight 20-point game to open the year, pulling down eight rebounds and dishing out five assists.

RJ Smith scored 19 points, just one off a career-high, on 6-7 shooting and went a perfect 7-7 at the line while pulling down a career-best 14 rebounds.

Myles Simon led Hastings with 23 points on 8-11 shooting. Ben Boudreau scored 18 of his 20 in the second half, adding six rebounds and six assists on the night. DaRon Hall was the third Bronco in double figures, finishing with 19 points on 8-10 shooting.

Hastings opened strong, taking a 9-5 lead after five consecutive points from Simon at the 17:01 mark, but Bellevue, fueled by their backcourt, engineered a 21-4 scoring spree over the next nine minutes to take control of the game at 26-13.

The Bruins kept Hastings at arm's length the remainder of the half as the lead hovered between nine and a first-half best 14 points, coming on a jumper from Phillips with 6:36 to play. BU and Hastings traded blows over the final several minutes, with the Bruins carrying a 40-30 lead into halftime.

Bellevue extended its lead to 18 points, scoring the first eight points of the second half on a jumper from Liam Thompson and consecutive threes from Bynum and Phillips, but Hastings answered back with a 16-6 run to cut the Bruin lead to eight with 14:27 remaining.

Leading 57-49 after a bucket by Boudreau, Smith took over the game for Bellevue, scoring seven-straight points and 13 points during a 15-7 BU run to push the lead back to 16 at 72-56 with 8:51 to play.

The Broncos cut the lead to six three times over the final 5:37, but never got closer. After Boudreau canned a three with 3:30 to play, Bellevue rattled off an 8-0 run to put the game out of reach as they held on for the 13-point victory and their first 2-0 start since the 2022-23 season.

Both teams shot the ball well from the floor and the line, BU finishing at 52% and Hastings connecting at a 51% clip on field goals while going 17-18 and 12-14 at the charity stripe, respectively.

Bellevue out-rebounded Hastings 38-22 and won the turnover battle, committing 11 and forcing 12 out of Hastings.

The Bruins return home on Saturday, Nov. 1, when they host Union Adventist University for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off inside the BU Fieldhouse.