BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Senior Richard Reed led Bellevue Univerisity with 14 points, including the game-winner with four seconds remaining, as the Bruins remained in first place in the North Star Athletic Association with a 59-57 victory over Valley City State University Friday night in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
With the victory, the Bruins improved to 15-11 overall and 9-1 in the NSAA. Bellevue has now won eight-straight games. VCSU dropped to 5-16 on the season and 2-8 in league play. The tightly-contest matchup featured 11 ties and nine lead changes.
Reed added four steals, two assists, and a pair of rebounds in the victory. Jaron Dickson finished with 13 points, four rebounds, and two steals. Justin Bessard recorded a double-double, with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
VCSU was led by Michael Cornelious' 25 points and seven boards. Jake Skelly added 10 points and five rebounds.
The Vikings used a 19-3 first-half run to erase a six-point deficit, grabbing a 32-22 lead with 1:36 left before halftime. Reed scored the final four points of the half to reduce the deficit to six points as VCSU took a 32-26 advantage at the intermission.
Cornelius led the Vikings in the first half with 13 points, three rebounds, and one steal. VCSU outshot the Bruins, 53.8 to 42.3 percent in the first period and held a 16-12 rebound advantage.
Reed paced BU in the opening 20 minutes with eight points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field.
After VCSU scored the first basket of the second half to grab an eight-point lead, the Bruins went on a 7-0 run to pull to within one at 34-33 with 15:30 left in the contest.
A layup by Sequan Walker gave BU its first lead of the second half at 41-40 at the 7:36 mark.
Neither team led by more than three points until a 3-pointer by Dickson gave the Bruins a five-point cushion at 55-50 with 1:54 remaining.
Five-straight points from Cornelius sparked by a 3-point play knotted the contest at 55-all with 53 seconds left.
Following a pair of free throws from Reed, Cornelius tied the contest once again on a short jumper in the lane, making it 57-57 at the 33-second mark.
Reed drained a 15-foot fade-away jumper with four seconds remaining and the Vikings could not get a shot off as BU held on for the 59-57 victory.
The Bruins will entertain Mayville State at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
