Box Score | Tournament Website
BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Led by five players that scored in double-figures, the Bellevue University men's basketball team posted a 79-72 nonconference win over Briar Cliff University Saturday night in the Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Bellevue improved to 6-2 with the win while Briar Cliff moved 8-3 on the season.
Lee Ames led the Bruins with 14 points while Taylor Young recorded 12 points and five assists.
Darren Redstar registered 11 points, on 4-of-5 shooting from the field, to go along with four rebounds off the bench.
Michael Dotson and Given Kalipinde both scored 10 points. Dotson added five rebounds while Kalipinde notched a team-high eight rebounds and four steals.
With the game tied at 5-5 early in the first half, the Bruins went on a 7-0 run to take a 12-5 lead before BCU answered back with a 7-0 spurt of its own to tie the game at 12-all.
BU scored the next seven points to take a seven-point advantage (19-12), but the Chargers outscored the Bruins 23-20 to close the period to pull within four, 39-35, at halftime.
After four-straight points by BCU tied the game at 41-41 to begin the second half, the Bruins went on a 10-2 run to take a 51-43 advantage.
The Chargers made back-to-back three-pointers to get within two, 51-49, but that's the closest they got as BU led by four or more points the remaining of the game for the seven-point win.
The Bruins shot 52.7 percent from the field and held BCU to 43.8 percent shooting.
The Chargers were paced by Zach Otting's game-high 25 points.
The BU men's basketball team will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 7 with a nonconference game against Manhattan Christian College. Tip-off is set for 3:00 p.m. at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Game Scoring
Briar Cliff...35-37--72
Bellevue....39-40--79
BCU: Otting, 25; Harreld, 18; Pohlen, 8; Lefler, 6; Graves, 6; Berg, 3; Wietfeld, 2; Homan, 2; Torres, 2.
BU: Ames, 14; Young, 12; Redstar, 11; Kalipinde, 10; Dotson, 10; Leach, 7; Worthen-Harris, 5; Strong, 5; Hammock, 3; Sanders, 2.
