BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team shot 53 percent from the field, including draining 18 3-pointers, en route to an 88-72 victory over Valley City State University Friday night in North Star Athletic Association action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
With the win, the Bruins remained atop the NSAA standings, improving to 20-7 on the season and 10-1 in the NSAA. VCSU dropped to 8-18 overall and 4-8 in league play.
The 18 3-pointers were the second-most by the Bruins this season and the most in conference play.
Jaylen Wiltz led four Bruins in double figures, finishing with 18 points, including six 3-pointers while adding three rebounds. Amenofis Mitchell sank four 3-points, scoring 16 pointers and adding four rebounds. Lewis Hayes produced 14 points and four boards. Connor Dukes chipped in 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. Jaron Dickson added eight points and a team-high nine rebounds in the victory.
Connor Entzi (20) and Kevin Schramm (18) combined for 38 points to pace the VCSU offense.
An early 7-0 Viking run gave VCSU a 14-8 lead with 15:21 left in the first half. The Bruins responded with an 8-2 spurt to tie the contest at 16-apiece and a 3-pointer by Mitchell gave the Bruins their first lead of the game at 19-18 with 12:52 remaining before halftime.
Bellevue scored the final 11 points of the first half to take a 47-39 lead into the intermission.
BU was led in the first half by Wiltz, who scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. Mitchell added 10 points and three assists. Dukes nailed 3-of-4 3-point attempts for nine first-half points.
The Bruins hit 11-of-20 shots from behind the arc in the first half.
The Vikings, who shot 59.6 percent in the opening half, were led by Schramm's 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists. Entzi added nine points and three assists.
A 3-pointer by Dickson gave BU a 15-point lead (60-45) as the Bruins opened the second half on a 13-6 run. Consecutive 3-pointers by Mitchell and Wiltz pushed the margin to 18 points at 70-52 at the 12:38 mark.
After BU expanded the lead to 20 points following a layup by Vaj Rice, the Vikings battled back, going on a 6-0 run to pull to within 14 points at 86-72 with 2:28 left in the contest. That was as close as VCSU would get as the Bruins registered the 88-72 victory.
The Bruins will host Dickinson State University tomorrow night (Feb. 15) at 5 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.