BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Richard Shepherd, Jeremy Arrington, and James Parrott combined for 62 points to lead the fourth-ranked Bellevue University men's basketball team to a 97-44 win over AIB College of Business Friday night in the Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Bellevue snapped its two-game losing skid and improved to 5-3 while AIB, which is in its inaugural season of men's basketball, remained winless and dropped to 0-8 on the season.
Shepherd tied his career-high with 22 points, incuding five 3-pointers, while adding eight rebounds, and six assists. Arrington scored 21 points, nailing four 3-pointers, while adding nine assists, eight rebounds, and three steals. Parrott finished with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Bellevue finished the game with 14 3-pointers on 32 attempts and held a commanding 59-33 advantage in total rebounds.
AIB was led by Eley Brandon's 14 points and five rebounds.
Shepherd (17) and Parrott (11) combined for 28 first-half points as Bellevue built a 48-23 halftime advantage. Shepherd hit 4-of-5 3-pointers in the opening period.
Eley scored 12 of the Eagles' 20 first-half points.
Shepherd hit three-straight 3-pointers to highlight a 15-2 BU run as the Bruins built a 38-18 lead with four minutes remaining in the first half. Bellevue closed the half on a 10-2 scoring run fueled by consecutive baskets from Jelani Johnson.
Bellevue shot 41.5 percent in the first half, and was 46.2 percent (6-of-13) from behind the arc.
The Pioneers never got closer than 25 points in the second half as the Bruin defense held AIB to 25.7 percent shooting after the break, while recording its most lopsided victory of the season.
Arrington scored 15 of his 21 points in the second period.
The Bruins will conclude the Thanksgiving Classic with a 5:00 p.m. game against Dakota State University on Saturday (Nov. 26) at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. The Trojans defeated York College, 79-69, in the opening game of the tournament.