BELLEVUE, Neb. - On Saturday, Dec. 6 the eight-ranked Bellevue University basketball team will travel to Madison, S.D. for a 7:00 p.m. match-up with Dakota State University. The Bruins take a 7-2 record into the match-up while the Trojans enter the contest with an overall record of 3-6.
The game will be the first that Bellevue has played on the road since falling to Biola on Nov. 25. The game will mark the sixth time in the last four seasons that the schools have met on the hardwood and the eighth time overall in a series that dates back to the 1999/00 season. Bellevue leads the all-time series 4-3.
LAST MEETING:
Eleven Bruins scored as the ninth-ranked Bellevue University men's basketball team defeated Dakota State University, 89-64, Wednesday evening in nonconference action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Lee Ames and Thomas Hammock each scored 15 points to lead the BU offense and Taylor Young chipped in 12 points, three assists, two rebounds and one block.
Given Kalipinde registered nine points, a team-high seven rebounds and four assists and Michael Dotson recorded eight points, six rebounds and four assists.
Darren Redstar tallied 10 points and five rebounds while Bailey Sanders posted a career-high eight assists, without a turnover, off the bench in 14 minutes of action.
Trailing 19-16 with 11:44 left in the first half, the Bruins went on a key 12-0 run to regain the lead, 28-19. BU led the remaining of the period and finished the stanza on an 11-0 spurt to take a 23-point lead at halftime, 53-30.
Ames paced the Bruins with 15 first half points on 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range. BU shot 52.6 percent from the field in the first half and also made nine 3-pointers.
The Bruins led the entire second half by double-figures and made seven 3-pointers en route to the 89-64 win. Hammock scored 12 of his 15 points in the second period to lead the offensive attack.
BU shot 48.5 percent from the field with 16 made 3-pointers and held DSU to only 38.5 percent shooting. The Bruins out-rebounded the Trojans, 45-32, and BU's bench also outscored DSU's bench, 41-0.
DSU was led by Dylan Hale's game-high 19 points and Marcus Smith's 18 points, four rebounds and three assists.
LAST GAME:
Bellevue: Olutola Olushola and Percy Lemle combined for 42 points with both scoring career highs, as the sixth-ranked Bellevue University men's basketball team defeated the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma, 96-86, in the final game of the Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic Saturday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Coming off the bench, Olushola finished with 22 points, four rebounds and two assists. Lemle recorded 20 points, eight assists, four rebounds, and two steals in the victory. Dimitri Chonis was the third Bruin in double figures, finishing with 14 points, all in the first half, to go along with four assists.
Ed' Lexus Collier paced the Drovers with a game-high 27 points and eight rebounds.
Chonis scored nine points in the first seven minutes of the contest as the Bruins built an 11-point lead at 21-10. Four-straight points by Charles Markens sparked a 7-0 Drover run as USAO cut the gap to four points (21-17) with 11 minutes remaining in the opening period. A 9-2 run capped by a pair of jumpers from Anthony Rounds helped BU rebuild an 11-point margin and the two teams traded baskets for the remainder of half as the Bruins took a 50-38 lead into the break.
Chonis scored 14 points in the opening period, connecting on 5-of-6 shots from the field, including 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Both teams shot 51 percent if the first half, but the Bruins hit five more 3-pointers.
The Bruins used a 16-4 run over a six-minute span to pull ahead by 21 points at 72-51 midway through the second half.
The Drovers responded with a 21-10 spurt, climbing to within 11 points (82-71) with just over five minutes left in the contest.
A layup by Lexus brought USAO to within 10 points at 85-75 at the three-minute mark. A 3-pointer by Cameron King cut the lead to single digits at 86-78 at 2:41.
After USAO got to within seven points, a 3-pointer by Thomas Hammock and four free throws by Olushola in the final minute sealed the 96-86 victory.
Bellevue hit 11-of-20 3-pointers in the game, compared to the Drovers' 5-of-15 performance from 3-point range.
Dakota State never trailed in the game Saturday afternoon at the Event Center, ending the month of November with an 85-68 victory over NAIA Division I Benedictine-Springfield (Ill.) in the third-place game in the Draemel Classic, hosted by Midland (Neb.).
The Trojans shot a blazing 53.1 percent from the field in the first twenty minutes of the game (17-of-32), including 5-for-13 from the 3-point line. The Bulldogs were held to 29 percent shooting in the first half (9-of-31) and 2-for-6 from the 3-point arc.
DSU had the largest lead of the game at 68-38 after Taylor Zirbel's basket with 9:32 remaining in the game. Benedictine-Springfield could get no closer than 17 points with 31 seconds left (85-68) as the Trojans sealed the victory. The Bulldogs outscored the Trojans 45-43 in the final twenty minutes of the game.
Dakota State shot 45.9 percent from the field in the second-half (17-of-37) compared to Benedictine-Springfield 45.7 percent (16-of-35).
Allen had a game-high 26 points on his 10-of-19 shooting from the field and 5-for-10 from the 3-point line for the Trojans. Sansavour recorded his second consecutive double-doubles, scoring 18 points and pulling down 10 rebounds. Ian Barse came off the bench and scored 16 points (6-of-11 from the field and 4-for-7 from the 3-point line).
Adam Hofer tallied nine points for DSU. He dished out a career-high seven assists. Seth Cavanaugh and Sansavour each added four assists. Sansavour, Allen, Hofer and Cavanaugh each recorded two steals for Dakota State while Sansavour had two blocked shots.
Stephan Shepherd had 13 points for the Bulldogs. Three players scored in double digits, led by Jesse Smith with 13 points. Clavontae Brown added 12 points. Patrick Gonzalez recorded 11 points.
Dakota State shot 49.3 percent overall from the field (34-of-69) compared to Benedictine-Springfield 37.9 percent (25-of-66). The Trojans drained 12 3-pointers in 33 attempts (36.4 percent), while the Bulldogs were 5-of-18 from the 3-point arc (27.8 percent).
Benedictine-Springfield was 13-of-25 from the free-throw line (54.2 percent). DSU was 5-for-10 free-throws. Both teams had 40 rebounds in the game and committed 16 turnovers. The Trojans dished out 22 assists compared to the Bulldogs 10 assists.
TEAM LEADERS:
Scoring - BU-Taylor Young (19.8), DSU-Bryant Allen (18.9)
Rebounding - BU-Alex Worthen-Harris (6.4), DSU-Miguel Sansavour (6.9)
Assists - BU-Percy Lemle (26), DSU-Adam Hofer (30)
Blocks - BU-Anthony Rounds (4), DSU- Miguel Sansavour (22)
Steals - BU-Alex Worthen-Harris/Percy Lemle (8), DSU- Adam Hofer (11)
Three-Pointers Made - BU-Thomas Hammock (27), DSU-Bryant Allen (25)
Free Throw Percentage - BU-Taylor Young (88.2, 30-34), DSU-Bryant Allen (83.3, 20-24)
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Bellevue - 4-Hammock, 14-Shehata, 15-Chonis, 22-Worthen-Harris, 34-Aaron
Dakota State - 3-Allen, 10-Hofer, 24-Cavanaugh, 25-Meger, 45-Sansavour
GAME NOTES:
- Bellevue is 6-0 against fellow NAIA Division II Opponents
- Bellevue is 1-2 against NAIA Division I Opponents
- Bellevue is 2-0 at home on the season
- Bellevue is 1-1 in true road games on the season
- Bellevue is 4-1 in neutral site games on the season
- Bellevue is 7-0 when scoring 76 or more points
- Bellevue is 0-2 when scoring 52 or fewer points
- Bellevue is 5-1 when allowing 70 or more points
- Bellevue is 2-1 when allowing 63 or fewer points
- Bellevue is 1-0 in overtime games on the season (Nov. 1, def. Friends 76-70)
- Bellevue is 7-0 when shooting better than 40% from the field
- Bellevue is 0-2 when shooting worse than 40% from the field
- Bellevue is 7-0 when making more than 5 3-Point Field Goals
- Bellevue is 0-2 when making 5 or fewer 3-Point Field Goals
- Bellevue is 5-1 when out-rebounding their opponent
- Bellevue is 1-1 when being out-rebounded by their opponent
- Bellevue is 1-0 when having the same number of rebounds as their opponent
- Thomas Hammock ranks 22nd in Division II in Total 3-Point Field Goals Made (27)
- Thomas Hammock ranks 24th in Division II in 3-Point Field Goals Made per Game (3.00)
- Thomas Hammock ranks 32nd in Division II in Assist/Turnover Ratio (3.50)
- Bellevue is 3-2 without leading scorer Taylor Young (19.8 PPG) on the season
- Percy Lemle has scored in double figures in six straight games (15.3 PPG during streak)
- Last year Bellevue defeated UNK 73-65 in Kearney on Dec. 12
- Nebraska-Kearney leads the all-time series, which dates back to 1978, 18-2
- Bellevue ranks in Division II
- 20, 3-Point Field Goal Defense (.302)
- 33, 3-Point Field Goals Made per Game (8.00)
- 37, Total 3-Point Field Goals Made (72)
- 37, 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (.385)
- 40, Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.082)
- 45, Scoring Defense per Game (69.67)
- 45, Total Rebound Defense (33.22)
- 46, Offensive Rebounds per Game (12.00)
- 47, Scoring Margin (7.56)
- 49, Total Rebound Margin (4.00)
UP NEXT:
Bellevue will begin a four-game home-stand when they host intra-state foe Nebraska-Kearney on Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 7:00 p.m..
Dakota State will hit the road for a 3:00 p.m. game at Briar Cliff on Saturday, Dec. 13.
