Bruins top century mark in home-opener

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Nicolus Guzman recorded a double-double and Mike Cardenas hit seven three-pointers to lead the Bellevue University men's basketball team past Nebraska Wesleyan University, 109-75, on Tuesday evening in the Bruins' home-opener.

The Prairie Wolves started off the game strong, going up 17-12 with 13:29 to play in the first half. The full court press employed by the visitors gave Bellevue fits in the early going before solving it to grab some easy layups and open jump shots down the other end. TeShon jump-started a 14-4 Bellevue run with a layup. The run was capped by a layup from Chris Burton, putting BU up 26-21 at the 9:43 mark.

Bellevue led by as many as 18 points in the first half when TeShon Burton made another layup, this time with 2:26 to play to put the Bruins up 47-29. Nebraska Wesleyan scored eight of the final nine points before intermission to pull within 11 points headed into the locker rooms.

Cardenas netted six of his triples in the second half, on his way to a season-high 21 points. During an 18-2 run, Cardenas canned five treys without a miss. Cardenas was 6-of-8 from beyond the arc in the second half. That run put Bellevue up 77-50 with 13:11 to play and effectively sealed the win.

Bellevue topped the 100-point plateau with 3:25 to play when Wes Burke knocked down his third three of the night.

Guzman scored 16 points and pulled down a game-high 14 boards on the night. The double-double was the first of his Bruin career and the third of the season for Bellevue who received double-doubles on opening night from Marquis Aaron and Chris Ashanti. Bellevue did not record any double-doubles last season. Guzman's 14 rebounds are the most by a Bruin this season and helped BU out-rebound Nebraska Wesleyan 53-40 on the evening.

Cardenas scored all 21 of his points from deep, connecting on 7-of-10 three-point attempts. Joining Cardenas and Guzman in double-figures were Burke and TeShon Burton with 16 and 12 points, respectively.

Carl Robinson dished out a season-high seven assists for the Bruins who assisted on 26 of their 41 made field goals (63.4 percent). Jerred Cook added four dimes while Olutola Olushola, Chris Ashanti, and Tyler Morgan each added three. Bellevue matched a season-high with 10 thefts on the night and set a new high-water mark with 10 blocked shots.

Defensively, Bellevue forced the Prairie Wolves into 16 turnovers and limited them to a 34.2 percent (26-of-76) effort from the floor, flummoxing the guests with their length and athleticism. As a team BU kept Trey Bardsley in check. After averaging over 23 points per game last year, Bellevue limited Bardsley to just 15 points on a frustrating 5-of-16 performance from the field.

Travis Giesselmann led Nebraska Wesleyan with five rebounds while contributing six points on the offensive end. Max Cook added nine points on 3-of-5 shooting for NWU.

Bellevue showcased its depth, out-scoring Nebraska Wesleyan 65-38 in bench points as all 12 Bruins to see action scored on the night with all but one recording at least two made field goals and no one playing more than 26 minutes.

It was the first time the two sides have met on the hardwood since a Nebraska Wesleyan win on Jan. 19, 1994.

The Bruins (4-1) are back in action on Saturday, Nov. 14 when they travel to Oskaloosa, Iowa for a 6 p.m. tip-off against William Penn University.