BELLEVUE, Neb. - Junior Richard Shepherd scored a career-high 32 points to lead the Bellevue University men's basketball team to 91-72 win over Oklahoma Wesleyan University in the semifinals of the Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament Friday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
The Bruins (26-5) will take on York College (16-15) in the championship game at 5 p.m. Saturday night. The winner of that game will receive an automatic berth into the NAIA Division II Men's Basketball Championship on March 7-13. York defeated Central Christian College, 96-78, in Friday's first semifinal.
Shepherd was 10-of-14 from the field, including 7-of-10 from 3-point range, while adding three steals and four assists. Junior James Parrott finished with 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Brian James and Nolan Dennis led the Eagles with 20 and 17 points, respectively.
The Eagles were held without a basket for nearly eight minutes as the Bruins used a 19-point run to surge to a 28-9 lead with 7:41 remaining in the first half.
Shepherd scored 15 first-half points as the Bruins established a 42-19 advantage at the intermission. OWU shot just 22.6 percent in the opening period, while BU connected at a 55.2 percent clip, including a 7-of-12 showing from behind the arc.
The Eagles used an 8-2 run to open the second half to cut the deficit to 17 points at 44-27 at the 18-minute mark. Shepherd scored six-straight points in an 8-0 BU run as the Bruins pulled away for a 53-27 lead with 16:39 to go in the game.
A 3-pointer by Shepherd at 7:17 gave the Bruins a 75-50 lead. The Eagles, however, went on a 19-5 run to close the deficit to 11 points at 80-69 with two minutes remaining.
Bellevue secured the win, closing the game on an 11-3 run, hitting six free throws in the final two minutes, to record the 91-72 win.
