Streak reaches a dozen as BU defense locks down MSUN in second half

HAVRE, Mont. -- After holding Montana State University-Northern to just 22 second half points, the Bellevue University men's basketball team rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to secure a 69-63 victory over the Lights on Saturday evening at the Armory Gymnasium.

With the victory, Bellevue improves to 12-0 on the year and 7-0 in Frontier Conference play. The loss drops the Lights to 6-5 overall and 3-4 in the Frontier Conference.

How It Happened:

Bellevue and MSU-Northern traded barbs early with neither team gaining much separation and the score tied at the 11:35 mark. Jermaine Haliburton keyed a 7-0 run with a layup as Bellevue took a 21-14 lead with 9:31 remaining in the first half.

A pair of free throws from Jaden Phillips put BU ahead by six with 8:30 to play before the Lights rattled off a 9-0 scoring run over just 1:39 of game time. BU responded with four-straight points before Austin Ramos scored a layup to put MSU-Northern back in front and Tracen Jilot made it a four-point game with a three-pointer.

RJ Smith traded baskets with threes from Ramos and Jilot scored a layup with 29 seconds to play as the Lights took a 41-35 lead into the break. MSU-Northern shot a blistering 62.5% from the floor over the opening 20 minutes and turned the ball over just three times to negate Bellevue's 51.9% effort from the floor and two-turnover first half.

Smith scored six of BU's first eight points in the second half, part of a 12-4 run that saw the Bruins jump back in front on a three-pointer from Haliburton with 14:11 remaining.

Back-to-back layups from Claysen Delp and Luke Holecek briefly gave the Lights a lead but a 9-0 run, capped by a pair of layups from Smith put BU back in front for good, 56-49, with 10:12 remaining in the game.

Two free throws from JJ Montgomery stretched the Bruin lead to a game-high 10 points, 64-54, with 3:20 to play. The Lights closed to within four on a pair of occasions but Ahamad Bynum and Montgomery converted all four BU free throw attempts in the final 67 seconds to seal the victory.

Top Performers:

Bellevue:

Ahamad Bynum: 17 points (5-10 FG), 2-5 3-FG, 3 assists
RJ Smith: 16 points (8-11 FG), 8 rebounds, 1 block
Jermaine Haliburton: 9 points (4-8 FG), 1 rebound, 1 steal
Jaden Phillips: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 1 steal
JJ Montgomery: 7points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists

MSU Northern:

Austin Ramos: 15 points (4-6 FG,) 3-4 3-FG, 3 rebounds, 1 assist
Tracen Jilot: 15 points (5-9 FG), 3-5 3-FG, 1 assist, 1 steal
Leon Sayers Jr.: 14 points (4-9 FG), 6-7 FT, 3 rebounds, 2 assists

Inside the Numbers:

Bellevue out-shot MSU-Northern 54%-48% on the night and their five three-pointers matched a season-low set in the previous meeting against MSU-Northern (Nov. 21) as well as back on Nov. 22 against Providence.

BU shot 50% or better from the floor for the ninth time in 12 games on the year and for the sixth time in seven Frontier Conference games.

The Bruins out-rebounded the Lights 29-16 and held a 9-3 edge on the offensive glass to go along with a 40-26 advantage in points in the paint.

BU won the turnover batter, committing just six and turning their hosts over seven times parlaying that into a 12-9 advantage at the other end.

Bellevue trailed at the half for just the second time this season. The other occurrence came back on Nov. 15 when the Bruins entered the locker room trailing Dakota State by two points before rallying.

Ahamad Bynum scored in double figures for his 10^th-straight game and RJ Smith has now dropped double figure scoring games in each of his last six for the Bruins.

Up Next:

The Bruins step out of conference play for the final time on Friday, Dec. 19 when they travel to Forest City, Iowa for a 2 p.m. tip-off against Waldorf University at Hanson Fieldhouse.