BU rolls to ninth-straight win behind hot-shooting night

BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Connor Mohr was a press-killing specialist, canning seven three-pointers in a career-best 25-point night as the Bellevue University men's basketball team handled Valley City State University's press with relative ease en route to a 90-74 on Friday evening in Frontier Conference play at the BU Fieldhouse.

With the win Bellevue improves to 9-0 overall and 4-0 in Frontier Conference play. The Bruins are one of just eight unbeaten teams left in the NAIA. VCSU falls to 4-4 on the year and 0-4 in the Frontier as their losing streak extends to four games.

How It Happened:

Bellevue started slow offensively as Valley City jumped out to a 6-3 lead before Mohr hit threes on back-to-back possessions. That kick-started an extended 19-5 run over a span of 5:46 of game time.

The lead yo-yoed between nine and 12 over the next six minutes until RJ Smith capped a 7-0 scoring run with a layup to put the Bruins ahead 36-21. Mohr's sixth three-pointer of the half pushed the lead to a first half-high 19 points with 1:38 remaining as the Bruins led 44-27 at the break.

Valley City closed to within 13 on a three-pointer from Taylor Bryant-Frey with 17:01 remaining but Bellevue countered with a 7-0 scoring run to get the lead to 20. Their advantage ballooned to as many as 27 points on a layup from Jonathon Walker with 8:19 to go and again on a jumper by Mathok Mathok at the 7:48 mark. Careless ballhandling that saw the Bruins turn the ball over six times in the final five minutes allowed the Vikings to trim the final margin to 16.

Top Performers:

Bellevue University

Connor Mohr: 25 points, 7-16 3-FG, 4 rebounds
RJ Smith: 16 points, 8-10 FG, 9 rebounds (5 offensive), 3 assists
Jaden Phillips: 14 points, 6-9 FG, 4 rebounds, 2 assists
JJ Montgomery: 9 points, 3-6 3-FG, 3 assists
Jermaine Haliburton: 8 points, 5 rebounds, 8 assists, 2 steals

Valley City State University:

JR Cison: 17 points, 7-14 FG, 2 rebounds
Taylor Bryant-Frey, 15 points, 5-7 FG, 3-5 3-FG, 3 steals
Nez Chahade: 10 points, 4-8 FG, 5 assists, 3 steals

Inside the Numbers:

Bellevue out-shot VCSU 54-45% on the night and made 13 threes to the Vikings' seven.

The Bruins overcame a season-high 18 turnovers and an uncharacteristically poor night at the free throw line in which they were just 1-8.

BU won on the glass (40-36) for the seventh time this season and won the turnover battle (18-19) for the ninth time this year.

Bellevue's 24 assists (on 38 made field goals) were just one off their season-high of 25 against Mission back on Nov. 8.

BU canned 13 triples, shooting 43% from deep, for the sixth time already this season and their fifth time shooting at least 40% from beyond the arc.

Up Next:

The Bruins look to stretch their winning streak to double figures tomorrow with another Frontier Conference match-up as BU hosts Mayville State University for a 7 p.m. tip.