DICKINSON, N.D. -- Marcus White scored 20 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead a balanced Dickinson State University attack to lead the Blue Hawks to a 82-69 victory over visiting Bellevue University on Friday evening in North Star Athletic Association men's basketball action at Scott Gymnasium.
Bellevue falls to 6-7 overall and 0-2 in NSAA play while Dickinson State improves their overall mark to 8-4 and upping their conference record to 3-0.
Dickinson State built a five-point lead headed into the halftime break. The opening 20 minutes was played fairly evenly with Bellevue leading 30-27 as late as the 5:06 mark. From there the Blue Hawks closed the half on a 12-4 spurt to take a 39-34 lead into intermission.
DiSU used a 12-3 run over a 4:13 span, out of the break, to build a somewhat comfortable 14-point lead over their guests. The closest the Bruins would get the rest of the way was within six points and multiple occasions but they couldn't reduce the deficit to one possession.
BJ Shelton hit on 10-of-16 field goal attempts on his way to a game-high 20 points for the Bruins. Hel added five rebounds, tied for second on the team with Terrance Wienecke (4 points) and three off Mike Cardenas' (6 points) team-best eight boards.
Nick Hilton connected on 5-of-8 attempts from beyond the arc to account for 15 points. Blake Wilder added eight points while Jerred Cook and Jaffrey Stillman each tossed in six on the evening.
White's double-double paced DiSU who saw three additional players reach double figures. Terrell Butler poured in 15 points while reigning NSAA Player of the Week Jerry Shevlin added 14 points and a game-high eight assists, and Ryan Clark scored 10 points. Dontae Clark added eight points and Jake Buck contributed seven to the Blue Hawk cause.
As a team Dickinson State hit on 55.6 percent (30-of-54) of their field goal attempts and were an efficient 17-of-22 (77.3 percent) from the free throw line. Bellevue struggled to a 37.7 percent (29-of-77) effort from the field but were buoyed by 17 offensive rebounds which kept them within striking distance throughout much of the evening.
Bellevue did well to minimize turnovers, committing just seven to the Blue Hawks' 11, but couldn't capitalize at the free throw line sinking just 2-of-9 attempts (22.2 percent).
The Bruins are back in action tomorrow evening with an 8 p.m. North Star tip off at Valley City State University.
