February 26, 2024

Four from men's hoops recognized by NSAA

Senior guard Jerome Bynum (Chicago, Ill.), junior guard TJ Fritz (Manhattan, Kan.), freshman forward Liam Thompson (Phoenix, Ariz.), and coach Lucas Gabriel were honored by the North Star Athletic Association on Monday afternoon when the NSAA announced their postseason award winners.

BISMARCK, N.D. -- A trio of Bellevue University men's basketball players and head coach Lucas Gabriel were honored by the North Star Athletic Association on Monday afternoon when the NSAA announced their postseason award winners.

Senior guard Jerome Bynum (Chicago, Ill.), junior guard TJ Fritz (Manhattan, Kan.), and freshman forward Liam Thompson (Phoenix, Ariz.) were the three Bruin student-athletes cited.

Bynum earned second team all-conference honors. The fifth-year floor general has been a solid contributor across the board for the Bruins. He's averaging 10.7 points per game, second on the club, while shooting at team-leading 79% at the charity stripe. He leads the Bruins with 62 assists and ranks second with both 45 made threes and 24 steals while providing steady veteran leadership on both ends of the floor.

Fritz was an honorable mention all-NSAA selection. He leads the team and ranks eighth in the conference in scoring at 13.5 points per game. The junior sharpshooter ranks among the top 40 in both three-pointers made (21^st) and 3-point field goal percentage (44.2%). He is one of just four players across the NAIA shooting at least 44% from deep with at least 75 made threes.

Thompson featured on the NSAA All-Defense Team. He has frequently drawn the toughest defensive assignments, especially over the latter half of the season with his length being especially disruptive. He is second on the team and sixth in the conference with 21 blocked shots to go along with 17 steals. An opportunistic offensive player, he averages 4.2 points per game on 67% shooting as well as 3.6 rebounds per game.

Gabriel has led Bellevue to a 14-15 overall record, going 8-4 in NSAA play to clinch the league's regular-season title and top seed in the conference tournament. Since taking the helm of the program before the 2019-20 season, coach Gabriel has guided BU to a 93-64 overall record, 46-22 conference mark, three NSAA regular-season titles, a pair of NSAA tournament crowns, and two appearances in the NAIA National Tournament.

Bellevue, the No. 1 seed in the ongoing NSAA Tournament, hosts Dickinson State on Sunday, Mar. 3 in the NSAA Championship Game with the winner securing the league's automatic bid to the NAIA National Tournament.