BARTLESVILLE, Okla. – Bellevue basketball, ranked 16th in NAIA, fell on Friday evening in the first round of the Midlands Collegiate tournament hosted by Oklahoma Wesleyan University. The Bruins down by six at the break, made a run midway through the second half only to fall short of a league championship appearance.
Bellevue will go to 22-8 overall following the 72-54 loss as College of the Ozarks will advance to the league finals on Saturday (Feb. 28) against the Oklahoma Wesleyan at 5 p.m. The host Eagles, No. 1 in NAIA and the top-seed for this weekend’s tournament ran away from Haskell 102-77 in the second semifinal Friday night.
The Bruins took an early 3-0 lead after a Davon White trey in the opening seconds of the contest and were up by three (5-2) when Ron King landed his jumper. Scott McElvain put the second-seeded Bobcats in front when he scored in the paint to take a 6-5 lead.
In a slow paced first half, Bellevue was down as many as eight but battled back to pull within five (19-14) with just over seven minutes left before intermission. The half closed out with Bellevue down six, 28-22, despite shooting 25 percent.
After the first three minutes of the second frame, the deficit remained the same (35-29) after Jerrod Tucker’s (Chicago, Ill.) second free throw rippled the net. College of the Ozarks would extend the lead to as many at 15 (49-34) with 10:52 left in regulation.
Bellevue would go on a 10-2 run over the next five minutes closing the gap to within five (51-44). Unfortunately for the road Bruins, that would be the closest they would get as the Bobcats would take the victory.
Jerrod Tucker, a senior from Illinois, would lead the Bruins in scoring with 10 points. Tucker was 3-of-7 from the floor knocking down 4-of-6 from the foul line. Jerrod would also pull down 6 rebounds. Ron King and Carlos Bravo would each add 8 points in the cause getting 7 points apiece from Kyle Prochaska (Wahoo, NE) and Davon White (Omaha, NE).
Bellevue would finish with 18 points in the paint and 17 points off 11 Bobcat turnovers. The Bruins would get 20 bench points compared to 1 of the Ozarks.
College of the Ozarks (20-9) would have four players finish in double-figures; Jared Howerton leading the attack with 19 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Scott McElvain and Corey Stone would each contribute 18 points on a combined 16-of-25 from the field. Colt Blair had 13 points in the victory grabbing 6 rebounds.
The Bobcats would finish with 42 total rebounds; McElvain leading the way with a game-high 9 boards as Howerton would add 8 himself. Colt Blair and Nathan Peterson would finish with 6 rebounds each.
For the game, Bellevue would shoot 37 percent in the second half and 31 percent for the game compared to 54 percent for College of the Ozarks. The Bobcats were 17-of-27 in the second half (63%) and dished out 21 assists.
The next national ranking will be released on Monday (Mar. 2) giving Bellevue a better idea on their national ranking and possible chance for an at-large bid to the national tournament being played March 11 at Point Lookout, Mo.
