Under-seeded Bruins control second half to down host Huntington

NAIA First & Second Round Schedule
NAIA National Tournament Bracket

HUNTINGTON, Ind. -- Behind a 30-7 second half run, the 14^th-seeded Bellevue University men's basketball team rallied past host and 3^rd-seeded Huntington University 62-58 on Friday evening in the first round of the NAIA National Tournament.

With the win, the Bruins improve to 23-7 on the year and advance to tomorrow's second round. Huntington wraps up their 2025-26 campaign at 22-9.

Bellevue 62, Huntington 58

Bellevue opened the game strong with a 7-0 run, highlighted by an early three-pointer from Elijah Sherwood. However, Huntington quickly stabilized behind Kaden Johnson, who was impactful on the interior with multiple second-chance efforts and free throws to tie the game at 11-11.

Huntington utilized their aggressive defense to force Bellevue into 9 first-half turnovers.

After a back-and-forth period, Huntington's Miles Good drained a critical running three-pointer at the buzzer to end the half, giving the Foresters a 30-26 lead and the momentum heading into the locker room.

Huntington held a 30-26 lead at the break. However, Bellevue's offense found its rhythm in the second half, shooting 52.0% from the field and a blistering 77.8% from three-point range to overtake the home team. Bellevue's rebounding advantage (43-31) also played a crucial role in limiting Huntington's opportunities.

The second half featured a dramatic shift in shooting dynamics as Bellevue caught fire from the perimeter, hitting 7-9 attempts from beyond the arc while Huntington struggled going just 1-11 from deep in the half.

Early in the period, trailing 32-26, Bellevue ignited a massive surge led by Jaden Phillips who scored all 13 of his points in the second half after being saddled with foul trouble and limited to just a handful of minutes in the first half. Phillips and Connor Mohr, who combined for five three-pointers in a six-minute span to build a 17-point lead at 59-42 with nine minutes remaining.

Refusing to go away, Huntington's Kaden Johnson sparked a late 14-3 run to close the gap, capitalizing on the Bruins missing four consecutive free throws in the final two minutes.

Despite a last-second layup on a lob putback by Landon Biegel that cut the lead to four, time ran out on Huntington.

Bellevue's 16-14 rebounding advantage during the half proved vital in securing enough possessions to withstand the Foresters' late charge and seal the 62-58 victory.

Top Performers

Bellevue University

Mathok Mathok – 13 points (5-9 fg), 3-4 ft, 8 rebounds, 2 assists
Jaden Phillips – 13 points (5-6 fg), 3-3 3-fg, 3 rebounds
Jermaine Haliburton – 9 points (4-10), 3 rebounds, 3 steals
Connor Mohr – 9 points (3-5 fg), 3-5 3-fg, 3 rebounds
Deng Jal – 7 points (3-4 fg), 3 rebounds

Huntington University

Kaden Johnson – 22 points (9-17 fg), 4-7 ft, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks
Miles Good – 11 points (3-10 fg), 4-6 ft, 2 assists
Keylane Lasisi – 10 points (4-5 fg), 2-2 ft, 8 rebounds, 3 blocks

Inside the Numbers:

• Bellevue netted a 30-7 run over a span of 9:10 in the second half to turn a 35-29 deficit into their largest lead of the game at 59-42.
• The Bruins were scoreless over the final 5:13 and held without a field goal over the final 7:14.
• BU out-shot Huntington 45-38% for the game and went 9-16 (56%) from three while limiting the Foresters to just 3-16 (19%) from deep.
• Huntington shot 13-21 (62%) from the free throw line while Bellevue was just 5-14 (36%) at the charity stripe.
• The Bruins out-rebounded Huntington 43-31, including 10-6 on the offensive glass.

National Tournament Notes:

• Bellevue improves to 25-22 all-time in NAIA National Tournament play
• The win was BU's first in the NAIA's current format since the two divisions combined ahead of the 2020-21 season.
• The Bruins are seeking the program's 13^th Sweet 16 All-Time, first since 2017.

Up Next:

Bellevue meets the winner of 6^th-seeded Graceland University and 11^th-seeded Lindsey Wilson College tomorrow at 5 p.m. in the Second Round. The winner will advance to Kansas City, Mo. for the NAIA National Tournament Round of 16 which will be held from Mar. 19-24 at Municipal Auditorium.