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BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Seniors Avery Tyler and Jeremy Cruise combined for 24 points and the Bruin defense held fourth-ranked Oklahoma Wesleyan to a season low 23.9 percent shooting effort as the Bellevue University men's basketball team recorded a 69-56 victory in MCAC action Friday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. 

With the win, the Bruins moved to 18-4 on the season and 5-1 in the MCAC. Oklahoma Wesleyan fell to 19-3 overall and 4-2 in league play.

Tyler finished with 13 points and five rebounds. Cruised nailed three 3-pointers and finished with 11 points and four boards. Junior Ousseynou Diop registered nine points, 12 rebounds, and a tied a career-high with eight blocked shots. 

Dominique Rambo was the only Eagle in double figures with 13 points. All-American Sadiel Rojas was held 20 points below his season average, finishing with a season-low seven points. Rojas finished with a team-high nine rebounds, three below his season average. 

After the Eagles opened the game with a 3-pointer by Levi Mooney, the Bruins responded with seven-straight points over the next four minutes and never trailed the remainder of the contest.

A 3-pointer by James Parrott and four-straight points from Eugene Bain sparked an 11-2 Bruin run as Bellevue gained a 19-10 advantage at the 7:37 mark. After OWU went on a 7-1 run to pull to within three points (20-17) with five minutes remaining in the period, BU used consecutive 3-pointers from Cruise and Ben Imig to surge ahead by 10 points (29-19) at the 2:36 mark.

The two teams traded baskets the remainder of the half until a steal and layup by Imig put the Bruins up 33-21 at the intermission. 

Both teams were plagued by poor shooting in the opening period as the Bruins shot 32.3 percent and OWU was held to 20.6 (7-of-34) shooting. Bain led BU in the first half with six points and four rebounds.  Diop added five points, five rebounds, and five blocked shots. Mooney paced the Eagles with six points in the first stanza. 

The Bruins opened up a 17-point advantage (45-28) at the 14:44 mark after consecutive buckets from Tyler. 

After BU grabbed a 19-point lead following a layup by Avery Walker at 13:05, OWU scored seven-straight points to get back to with 12 (49-37) with 10:47 remaining in the game. A triple by Cruise capped a 10-4 BU run as the Bruins built the lead back up to 18 points (59-41) at the 8:39 mark. 

After a dunk from Donald Jones gave Bellevue its largest lead of 22 points (69-47), the Eagles scored the game's final nine points to make the final, 69-56.

The Bruins will host Southwestern Christian University at 5 p.m. on Saturday at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.