Bellevue survives DWU comeback bid at Keeter Classic

MITCHELL, S.D. -- The No. 24 Bellevue University men's basketball team jumped on the hosts early but had to withstand a second-half rally to hold on for an 86-81 victory over No. 25 Dakota Wesleyan University on Friday evening at the Beau Keeter Memorial Classic.

The win was the third in four games for the Bruins who even their overall record at 3-3 while Dakota Wesleyan suffered their first loss of the year to fall to 3-1.

Bellevue shot 52.5 percent in the opening half to race out to a 48-32 lead by intermission. The forced the Tigers into five early turnovers, converting those in 10 points at the other end while managing to take care of the ball, committing just two turnovers in the opening half.

BJ Shelton and Jalen Hall both reach double figures by halftime, scoring 14 and 10 points in the opening period, respectively.

BU led by as many as 24 in the first half. Terrance Wienecke canned a three-pointer with 3:43 left to cap a 14-4 Bruin run that saw Bellevue spring ahead 46-22. The Tigers scored the final six points of the half to trim the lead to 16.

The Tigers hung in and used an 11-2 run over a span of 4:46 to pull within seven points of the Bruins at 70-63 with 9:45 remaining in the game.

DWU continued chipping away before tying the game 73-73 with 5:56 to play on a three from Jason Spicer. Bellevue responded by scoring seven-straight points, sparked by a Jerred Cook three-pointer, to reestablish a more comfortable 80-73 lead with 4:31 remaining.

Dakota Wesleyan responded by going scoreless over the next 3:56. Ty Hoglund broke the drought with a layup with 2:14 remaining to make it a two possession game for the Tigers, 80-75. Trae Vandeberg followed up with a jumper at the 1:12 mark to cut BU's lead to 80-77.

A pair of free throws with eight seconds remaining by Collin Kramer made it a three-point game but Cook connected on a pair of free throws at the other end to stretch the lead back to five and the Bruins held on from there for the win.

Shelton poured in a team-high 23 points for the Bruins on 11-of-18 shooting. Hall finished just short of a double-double, scoring 17 points and pulling down nine rebounds. He also handed out six assists.

Cook reached double figures as well for Bellevue with 10 points. Jaffrey Stillman and Austin Moore scored eight and seven, respectively.

Spicer paced DWU with a game-high 29 points on 12-of-17 shooting while pulling down a team-high seven rebounds and dishing out five assists.

Spicer was joined in double figures by Hoglund (15), Vandeberg (15), and Tate Martin (12) who added six assists.

Bellevue took care of business on the glass, owning a 41-27 advantage on the boards which helped BU to a 15-11 advantage in second chance points. Points in the paint went to Bellevue by a margin of 60-40.

BU recorded their second game in a row in which they shot better than 50 percent from the field (51.4 – 36-of-70). They finished with a season-low nine turnovers.

The Bruins return to action tomorrow with a 4 p.m. game against No. 21 Midland University to close out the Keeter Classic.