Bruins advance to NSAA Semis with 64-60 win over VCSU

Box Score
NSAA Tournament Site

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Led by Jalen Hall's 20 points, the top-seeded Bellevue University men's basketball team defeated eighth-seeded Valley City State University, 64-60, Thursday night in the quarterfinals of the North Star Athletic Association Tournament at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. 

The Bruins (21-10) will host the NSAA Final Four on Sunday and Monday, Feb. 25-26. No. 7-seed Viterbo University (16-13) will meet No. 3-seed Dickinson State University (15-12) at 2 p.m. on Sunday, followed by Bellevue against No. 4-seed Mayville State (15-10) at 4 p.m. Monday's championship game will begin at 7 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. The tournament champion will advance to the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball National Tournament on March 7-13 at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls, S.D. 

Hall, who finished 7-of-14 from the field and 3-of-6 from behind the arc, added three rebounds and a pair of assists. BJ Shelton registered 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the win. Richard Reed was the third Bruin in double figures, finishing with 10 points to go along with two steals. 

Austin Dunbar paced the Vikings with 29 points and eight boards. Justyn Galloway recorded a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 17 rebounds. 

After the Bruins gained an early five-point advantage, hitting their first three 3-pointers of the contest, BU missed 15 of its next 16 shots, helping VCSU gain a 13-11 edge following a Dunbar layup with 11:51 remaining before halftime.   

Bellevue used a 6-0 run capped by a Blake Wilder layup to take a 21-15 lead at the 6:49 mark of the first period. The Vikings responded with six-straight points to knot the contest at 21-21 with 4:40 left before intermission. 

The two teams traded baskets the remainder of the half as a pair of 3-pointers by each team in the final 12 seconds saw the Vikings take a slim 32-31 lead at the break. 

Dunbar led VCSU in the first half with 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. Galloway scored four points and pulled down nine rebounds in the opening period. 

The Bruins, who shot 34.3 percent from the field in the first half, were led by 13 points from Hall and 10 from Reed. 

After BU opened the second half on a 16-8 run to take a seven-point lead at 47-40, the Vikings tied the contest at 49-49 at the 6:13 mark, sparked by four-straight points from Galloway. The Bruins countered with an 8-1 run to take a 57-50 lead at the 3:42 mark. 

After a short jumper by BJ Shelton gave the Bruins a 59-54 lead with 54 seconds remaining, a 3-point play 18 seconds later by Dunbar pulled VCSU to within two at 59-57.

A layup by Nick Hilton followed by a 15-footer from Dunbar made it 61-59 with 10 ticks left in regulation. Hilton made 1-of-2 free throws making it a 3-point contest with eight seconds remaining. 

Jake Skelly made 1-of-2 free throws to slice the margin to two points at 62-60 and Hall sealed the victory with a pair of free throws giving BU the 64-60 victory.