YORK, Neb. -- The Bellevue University basketball team raced out to a 19-point halftime lead and never looked back on the way to defeating Friends University, 75-52, on Saturday afternoon at the York Classic.
The Bruins started hot from three-point range, knocking down three of their first six attempts on their way to jumping out to an 11-2 lead at the 15:11 mark of the first half. Jerred Cook knocked down a trey at the 4:31 mark to give the Bruins a 12-point lead and kick off a 10-0 run. From there Bellevue never led by fewer than 12 the rest of the way.
Mike Cardenas led three Bruins in double figures with 12 points while TeShon Burton and Cook each chipped in with 11. Each of the 11 Bruins who played got on the scoresheet.
Marquis Aaron and Chris Burton were the Bruins' top rebounders on the day with Aaron pulling down nine boards and Burton added seven. Bellevue out-rebounded their second straight opponent, this time by a 36-29 margin, while forcing the Falcons into 17 turnovers and committing 14 of their own.
Kaleb Ratliff and Ealy Bell led Friends with 13 and 10 points, respectively while Ealy's five rebounds were tops on the club.
BU finished the day, shooting 47.4 percent (27-for-57) from the field and canning almost half of their three point attempts (16-for-33). The Bruins held Friends to 36.7 percent shooting and a 5-for-16 effort from deep.
No. 8 Bellevue (2-0) will return to play next weekend when they travel to Seward, Neb. for the Cattle Classic, hosted by Concordia. They will play Concordia on Friday at 8 p.m. and York on Saturday at 5 p.m.