BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The 25th-ranked Bellevue University men's basketball team was defeated by visiting seventh-seeded Mayville State University, 73-62, on Thursday evening in a North Star Athletic Association quarterfinal game at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
BU drops to 20-11 with the loss and leave their fate in the hands of a potential at-large bid. Mayville State, with the victory, improves to 17-11 on the year.
Trailing by a point at the half, Mayville State came out and scored 11 straight points to open the second half and they were never seriously challenged from there.
Bellevue trailed by as many as eight in the first half but rallied back to grab a 27-26 lead shortly before intermission and it looked as though the Bruins had found their step but it wasn't to be.
Chuck Robinson had a strong all-around game for the Comets, totaling 17 points, pulling down three rebounds, and blocking four shots. Terrance Lockett joined him in double-digits with 10 points and finishing the game with seven boards, three assists, and a pair of blocks of his own. Jamal Branco and A.B. Najee
Chris Ashanti paced Bellevue with game-highs 20 points and eight rebounds while also recording three steals on the evening. Olutola Olushola was the lone other Bruin in double-figured, finishing the night with 12 points to go along with a pair of rebounds and three helpers.
Mike Cardenas and Nicolus Guzman added seven points each in the loss while Jerred Cook and Chris Burton each chipped in six.
For the game BU hit on just 32.2 percent of their field goal attempts – and even that was a number buoyed by a series of late layups – which goes down as their second-poorest performance of the year.
Mayville State advances to Saturday's semifinal where they will take on Dakota State University in Madison, S.D. The Trojans dispatched Waldorf College, 101-84, on Thursday evening.