BETHANY, Okla. -- Richard Shepherd scored a career-high 24 points to lead the Bellevue University men's basketball team to an 81-56 win at Southwestern Christian University in Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference action Friday night at Pickens-Springer Gymnasium.
No. 7 Bellevue won its ninth-straight game and improved to 16-4 and 4-0 in the MCAC while Southwestern Christian fell to 8-8 overall and 1-3 in league play. The Bruins have won all four of their conference games by 25 or more points.
Shepherd shot 10-for-17 from the field and added seven rebounds. Other Bruins in double-figures included James Parrott who finished the game with 18 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals while Austin Bowen notched his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jelani Johnson added nine points and seven assists without committing a turnover.
BU shot 47.8 percent from the field, but made a season-low two three-pointers (2-for-18). The Eagles were held to 34.5 percent shooting.
SCU scored 13 of the first 19 points in the game before the Bruins went on a 13-0 run to take a 19-13 lead. The Eagles regained the lead, 22-21, using a 9-2 spurt before BU closed the half on a 19-6 run to take a 40-27 halftime advantage. Shepherd led BU with 15 points while Bowen added eight rebounds. The Bruins shot 50 percent (16-for-32) from the field, but were just 1-for-9 (11 percent) from three-point range. They held the Eagles to 29 percent shooting in the opening stanza.
The Bruins scored the first 12 points in the second half and held SCU without a field goal until the 14:30 mark en route to the 81-56 conference road win.
SCU was led by Tyler Averill who recorded 18 points and seven rebounds.
The Bruins will return to action tomorrow night when they visit Oklahoma Wesleyan University for a 5:00 p.m. tip-off.
