Bellevue, Neb. – Bellevue University used pair of early runs, 8-0 and 10-0, to go up by 14 (26-8) in the first ten minutes of the game. They continued their hot shooting through the second half making 54 percent of their shots to win by 22, 83-61. Bellevue avenged a mid-season loss against this same Park team using stifling defense getting to 21-7 overall. The road Pirates will fall to 15-13 having lost their last three.
The Bruins held the Pirates to 33 percent from the field in first 11:05 while offensively ran up and down the court making 10-of-19 (53%) during the same span. Park stayed point for point closing out the half (16-15) as the Bruins went into intermission with a 17-point lead (41-24). Bellevue shot 55 percent in the first half and held their opponents to 42 percent.
Bellevue increased their lead to as many as 26 points in the second frame at 6:23 out-scoring the Pirates 31-22. The final half closed out with Bellevue out-scoring Park 15-11 winning the contest 83-61.
Three players for Bellevue scored in double-digits, Kyle Prochaska and Jerrod Tucker leading the way with 17 each. Kyle was 8-of-10 from the floor as Tucker went 8-of-12 and 1-of-3 at the foul line. The two seniors combined to pull down 14 rebounds, 8 and 6 respectively.
Matt Imig added 12 points off the bench on 3-of-3 from behind the arc with 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Davon White (Omaha, NE) had 7 points in the winning effort with 3 assists as Tucker had a game-high 5 assists. Bellevue finished the game shooting 55 percent and knocked down 10-of-17 3-pointers. The team’s 21 assists is the second straight game the Bruins have gone over 20.
Park University had a team-high 17 points from Jon Meriweather as he was limited to the number of shots going 6-of-7 from the floor and 5-of-8 at the charity stripe. Meriweather finished with a double-double adding 10 rebounds to his total. Deron Cherry II had 16 points and 4 rebounds as Marcus Seidel ended with 13 on a rough 3-of-11 from three-point range. In a relatively foul-free game, Park was 15-of-20 from the free throw line compared to the host Bruins reaching the foul line eight times, making five.
Bellevue will close out their regular- and conference schedule on Saturday with a contest against York College. It will be senior night for the Bruins as tip-off for the game is scheduled for 5 p.m. at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
