FREMONT, Neb. -- James Parrott scored 26 points and added seven rebounds, two assists and one block to lead the fourth-ranked Bellevue University men's basketball team to a 74-64 nonconference win against Benedictine College on Friday evening at the Draemel Classic at the Midland University Event Center.
The Bruins improved to 3-1 this season while the Ravens dropped to 1-3 overall.
Along with Parrott's game-high 26 points, Jelani Johnson registered 16 points, five rebounds and three assists. Johnson also went 8-for-11 at the free-throw line. Ousseynou Diop chipped in 15 points, pulled down seven rebounds and blocked three shots off the bench.
With the game tied at 11-all six minutes into the opening half, BU finished the half on a 24-11 run to take a 35-22 halftime lead. Diop recorded eight points, four rebounds and two blocks off the bench in the decisive run. Parrott led all scorers in the opening stanza with nine points and four rebounds.
Benedictine scored the first four points to open the second half, but the Bruins responded and went on a 16-7 run to extend its lead to 18 on a pair of free throws by Parrott with 14:26 remaining in the second half. The Bruins maintained a double-digit lead the majority of the half before Benedictine managed to cut the Bruins' lead down to nine with two minutes remaining, but Bellevue went 6-for-10 from the free-throw line in the final minutes to pull out the 10-point win, 74-64.
The Bruins shot 42.6 percent from the field and went 24-for-32 at the free-throw line (75.0 percent). Bellevue held Benedictine to 40.0 pecent shooting, including a 21.4 percentage in the first half.
The Bruins finished with 10 assists, five steals and five blocked shots. Benedictine outrebounded Bellevue 36-35.
The Ravens were paced by Alex Miller who finished with 15 points and five rebounds.
The Bruins will wrap-up action in the Draemel Classic tomorrow with a 1:00 p.m. game against Park University.
Notes:
- Bellevue is 5-2 all-time against Benedictine and has won the last five games.
- Parrott has led the Bruins in scoring the last three games.
- Diop has recorded at least one block in 37 straight games.
- Bellevue's bench outscored Benedictine 13-4 in the first half.
- Bellevue never trailed and led by as many as 18 points
