BELLEVUE, Neb. - The Bellevue University basketball team hosts Waldorf College in their Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference opener at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center on Saturday evening at 5:00 p.m. The No. 4 Bruins take a 14-2 record into the game while Waldorf College enters with an overall mark of 4-10.
The game marks the first of three straight conference home contests for the Bruins who are a perfect 6-0 at home on the season.
Bellevue holds a 4-2 edge in the all-time series.
LAST MEETING:
Lee Ames nailed a school-record nine 3-pointers as the Bruins routed visiting Waldorf College, 108-62, in Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference action Tuesday night at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. Bellevue hit 18-of-30 3-pointers for the game.
Combined with last Saturday's 103-65 victory over Oklahoma Wesleyan, the Bruins have now avenged both of their conference losses and now own a half-game lead in the league standings.
Ames finished the contest with a career-high 33 points, to go along with four rebounds, two assists, and two steals. Dimitri Chonis was 6-of-7 from the field, finishing with 16 points, six rebounds, and four assists.
Isaiah Strong added 12 points, two steals and a pair of rebounds. Russell Droll was the fourth Bruin in double figures, finishing with 10 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two blocks.
Jordan Nelson was the lone Warrior in double figures, registering 18 points, three rebounds, and a pair of blocks.
The Bruins nailed 12-of-18 3-pointers in the first half to build a 60-26 halftime advantage. Ames scored 23 points in the opening period, while hitting 7-of-8 shots from behind the arc. Ames fired three 3-pointers in first two minutes to give BU a 9-0 advantage and BU never looked back. He scored 15 points in the first four minutes of the contest on 5-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Chonis was also in double figures in the first half, finishing with 10 points, along with three rebounds and three assists.
Bellevue hit a sizzling 64.7 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes, while limiting the Warriors to 37 percent shooting.
The Warriors never got closer than 32 points in the second half as Bellevue finished the contest with a 54 percent field-goal percentage, including a 60-percent showing on 3-pointers. The Bruin defense held WC to 44.1 percent shooting and the Warriors hit just 1-of-7 3-pointers.
LAST GAME:
Bellevue: Percy Lemle poured in a game-high 19 points to lead the No. 9 Bellevue University basketball team to a victory over No. 18 Indiana University East, 80-70, to close out the McDonald's CAM JAM Classic, hosted by College of the Ozarks, on Saturday afternoon.
Bellevue improved to 14-2 with their ninth straight victory while Indiana East fell to 12-5 with their third consecutive defeat.
Following a free throw by Taylor Young, Indiana East scored the final five points of the first half to build a 31-25 advantage at the intermission.
Bellevue reclaimed the lead in the second half before a pair of free throws from Jason Ray allowed the Wolves to tie the game at 57-57 with 7:16 to play. The Bruins would go on to out-score Indiana East 23-13 to close out the contest and claim the victory.
Young and Thomas Hammock both joined Lemle in double-figures with 15 points each. Young and Lemle combined to make 26 of 33 free throw attempts as the Bruins shot 75 percent (30-40) from the charity stripe, taking 22 more attempts than Indiana East. Lemle's 15 (15-of-19) free throws rank third in school history in BU's single-game records' book.
Despite giving up a 38-29 advantage on the glass and an 18-3 edge in second chance points, the Bruins had too much for the Wolves, scoring a 19-6 advantage in points off turnovers.
Waldorf: Jordan Nelson recorded a double-double, scoring a career-high 34 and ripping down 12 rebounds to lead the Waldorf College men's basketball team to an 84-68 victory over Presentation College on Saturday.
"Jordan was very consistent," Waldorf coach Nigel Jenkins said. "We used his size to our advantage. He just finished everything around the rim and did a good job knocking down his free throws."
Nelson simply couldn't be stopped. He went 88 percent from the field on 14-of-16 shooting and finished 6-of-8 (75 percent) at the free-throw line while surpassing the 1,000-point plateau.
Nelson is now Waldorf's all-time leading scorer with 1,003 points in four seasons. The two-time National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Scholar-Athlete also tops the school record books for career rebounds (478) and blocked shots (67).
"I'm especially proud of him because he's been here for four years and he worked extremely hard to get as good as he is right now," Jenkins said. "He does a great job in the classroom. It's a great honor to coach him."
Trey Scott added a career-high 28 points for the Warriors (4-10), shooting 10-of-16 (63 percent) from the floor, 3-of-5 (60 percent) from 3-point range and converted on all five of his free-throw attempts.
"He was very good at getting to the basket and taking what the defense gave him," Jenkins said. "It was just another all-out effort and great energy game from him."
Scott collected seven boards, dished out three assists and came away with a team-high three steals. Waldorf built a 47-33 halftime advantage. The Warriors led by as many as 20 points while outscoring the Saints (8-3) by a 37-35 margin in the second half. Jeremy Comer led Presentation with 24 points. The Saints received 13 points from Cameron Isreal and 10 points from Louis Cox.
The Warriors shot a season-high 63 percent, going 30-of-48 from the field and 5-of-12 (42 percent) from behind the arc in the win.
"We stayed aggressive," Jenkins said. "The game plan was to get the ball inside or attacking off the dribble. The guys stuck with the game plan and it worked for us."
Presentation went 23-of-57 (40 percent) from the floor and 9-of-25 (36 percent) from the perimeter, dropping its second straight loss to Waldorf. The Warriors cashed in at the foul line, going 19-of-24 (79 percent) while the Saints finished 13-of-19 (68 percent).
Waldorf dominated the boards, out-rebounding Presentation 35-17. Miscues prevented the Warriors from owning the second half. They committed a season-high 26 turnovers. Presentation turned the ball over 19 times.
"It was a good game overall, but we were extremely sloppy in the second half," Jenkins said. "We can't be happy with the way we finished the game."
Waldorf begins Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference (MCAC) play next Saturday against Bellevue University (13-2) in a 5 p.m. contest at Bellevue, Neb.
"It's definitely going to be a tough game for us," Jenkins said. "We're going to have to come in extremely focused, be very smart with how we play and make sure we execute our game plan."
The Bruins, a national tournament team last season, own a nine-game winning streak and are ranked No. 9 in the latest NAIA Division II poll. They'll present a challenge for the Warriors in the MCAC opener.
"They're a team that really gets after you on the defensive end and puts pressure on the basketball," Jenkins said. "They have a tough group of kids and they play extremely well together, so we're going to have to play at our best to have a chance to win."
TEAM LEADERS:
Scoring - BU-Taylor Young (17.4), WC-Erik Brewer (20.1)
Rebounding - BU-Alex Worthen-Harris (6.2), WC-Jordan Nelson (6.7)
Assists - BU-Percy Lemle (55), WC-Michael Morgan (32)
Blocks - BU-Percy Lemle (11), WC-Jordan Nelson (12)
Steals - BU-Alex Worthen-Harris (17), WC-Erik Brewer (17)
Three-Pointers Made - BU-Thomas Hammock (49), WC-Erik Brewer (17)
Free Throw Percentage - BU-Taylor Young (83.6, 61-73), WC-Jordan Nelson (75.0, 45-60)
PROBABLE STARTERS:
Bellevue - 4-Hammock, 12-Young, 15-Chonis, 22-Worthen-Harris, 34-Aaron
Waldorf - 5-Aarons, 11-Graham, 20-Morgan, 21-Brewer, 34-Nelson
GAME NOTES:
- Bellevue is 10-0 against fellow NAIA Division II Opponents
- Bellevue is 2-2 against NAIA Division I Opponents
- Bellevue is 2-0 against non-NAIA Opponents
- Bellevue is 6-0 at home on the season
- Bellevue is 2-1 in true road games on the season
- Bellevue is 6-1 in neutral site games on the season
- Bellevue is 14-0 when scoring 64 or more points
- Bellevue is 0-2 when scoring 52 or fewer points
- Bellevue is 8-1 when allowing 70 or more points
- Bellevue is 6-1 when allowing 67 or fewer points
- Bellevue is 1-0 in overtime games on the season (Nov. 1, def. Friends 76-70)
- Bellevue is 13-0 when shooting better than 40% from the field
- Bellevue is 1-2 when shooting worse than 40% from the field
- Bellevue is 13-0 when making 6 or more 3-Point Field Goals
- Bellevue is 1-2 when making 5 or fewer 3-Point Field Goals
- Bellevue is 9-1 when out-rebounding their opponent
- Bellevue is 4-1 when being out-rebounded by their opponent
- Bellevue is 1-0 when having the same number of rebounds as their opponent
- Thomas Hammock ranks 15th in Division II in Total 3-Point Field Goals Made (49)
- Thomas Hammock ranks 15th in Division II in Assist/Turnover Ratio (3.33)
- Thomas Hammock ranks 24th in Division II in 3-Point Field Goals Made per Game (3.06)
- Bellevue went 5-2 in seven games without Taylor Young (17.4 PPG)
- Waldorf defeated Bellevue 83-73 on Jan. 11, 2014
- Bellevue defeated Waldorf 108-62 on Feb. 11, 2014
- Bellevue leads the all-time series, which dates back to 2005, 4-2
- Erik Brewer ranks 21st in Division II in Points per Game (20.1)
- Erik Brewer ranks 35th in Division II in Offensive Rebounds per Game (2.85)
- Jordan Nelson ranks 26th in Division II in Points per Game (19.4)
- Jordan Nelson ranks 29th in Division II in Field Goal Percentage (.565)
- Jordan Nelson ranks 43rd in Division II in Scoring (271)
Bellevue ranks in Division II
- 18, 3-Point Field Goal Percentage Defense (.313)
- 35, 3-Point Field Goal Percentage (.381)
- 39, Assist/Turnover Ratio (1.092)
- 39, Scoring Margin (8.50)
- 42, Scoring Offense per Game (78.50)
- 42, Total Scoring Offense (1256)
- 44, Total Rebound Defense (33.13)
- 47, 3-Point Field Goals Made per Game (7.63)
- 47, Scoring Defense per Game (70.00)
- 48, Field Goal Percentage (.460)
- 49, Field Goal Percentage Defense (.428)
Waldorf ranks in Division II
- 30, Total Rebound Defense (32.36)
- 48, Field Goal Percentage (.460)
UP NEXT:
Bellevue will host Central Christian College on Friday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in their second of three straight home games to open the conference slate.
Waldorf will host York College on Friday, Jan. 16 at 7:30 p.m. in their MCAC home-opener.
