BU defense, balanced offense produce 71-47 win over Eagles

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BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The fourth-ranked Bellevue University men's basketball team used an aggressive defense and a balanced offense to produce a 71-47 victory over Oklahoma Wesleyan University Friday night in Midlands Collegiate Athletic Conference action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. 

The Bruins won their seventh-straight game, improving to 21-3 on the season and 7-1 in the MCAC. OKWU fell to 6-17 overall and 0-8 in league play. 

Bellevue held the Eagles to just six points in the first 13-and-a-half minutes of the second half to pull away for the 24-point win. 

Dimitri Chonis and Alex Worthen-Harris led the Bruins with 13 points each. Taylor Young added 11 points, three rebounds and an assist. Percy Lemle finished with eight points, six rebounds, three blocks, two steals and a pair of assists. 

CJ Ross was the lone Eagle in double figures, collecting 11 points but was just 3-of-14 from the field. 

After the Bruins raced out to an early 10-2 lead to open the game, the Eagles responded with their own 10-2 spurt to knot the game at 12 apiece halfway through the first half. The two teams traded baskets for the remainder of the first period before BU ended the half on 10-3 run to take a 33-27 lead at the intermission. 

Young paced the Bruins in the opening half with nine points, two rebounds and a steal. Ross and Cole Johnson each recorded eight points to guide the Eagle offense in the first 20 minutes. 

Chonis and Worthen-Harris combined for all 10 points in a 10-1 run as Bellevue built a 15-point advantage at 43-28 with 15 minutes remaining in the game. 

After a jumper by Pogos Trunyan gave the Bruins a 17-point margin (47-30) at 13:22, neither team scored for four minutes until a 3-pointer by Thomas Hammock pushed the BU lead to 20 points. 

The Bruins took their largest lead of 28 points at 68-40 on a 3-pointer by Austin Moore with just over three minutes left in the contest. 

The 47 points were the fewest allowed by the Bruins this season and the 24-point win tied for the largest-point differential of the season. 

The Bruins return to the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center tomorrow (Feb. 7) for a 5 p.m. conference tilt against Haskell Indian Nations University.