BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team used a key 18-0 second-half run to pull away for a 76-61 victory over York College Saturday night in the final game of the Hampton Inn Thanksgiving Classic at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Bellevue improved to 7-4 with the win, while York fell to 6-5 overall on the season.
The Bruins used a balanced offense with six players scoring nine-or-more points in the win. Mike Cardenas led the Bruins with 14 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists. Olutola Olushola scored 13 points and Carl Robinson narrowly missed a double-double, finishing with 12 points, nine assists and six rebounds. TeShon Burton and Nicolus Guzman poured in 11 and 10 points respectively.
Cameron Coleman paced the Panthers with 24 points and 10 rebounds, however, the Bruins limited him to just two points in the second half.
Coleman scored 15 points in the first six minutes of the contest as York grabbed an early 10-point lead at 20-10 at the 14-minute mark.
Bellevue battled back with a 14-6 run to pull to within two points at 26-24 on a 3-pointer by Olushola at 8:11. A 3-pointer by Cardenas gave the Bruins their first lead of the game at 32-30 with 4:47 remaining in the period. York responded with 10-consecutive points to nab a 40-32 edge at 2:23. After the Bruins countered with six-straight points, Coleman nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Panthers a 43-38 lead at the break.
Coleman recorded 22 points, five rebounds and three steals in the first half to pace the Panther attack, as York outshot BU 58.6 to 45.2 percent.
Olushola led BU in the first period with 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field.
The Bruins opened the second half on a 16-6 run as BU grabbed to a 55-49 lead with 13:34 left in the contest. After the Panthers battled to within two points, the Bruins scored 18-consecutive points to pull away to a 75-55 advantage at the 4-minute mark. Bellevue held York scoreless for nearly seven minutes during the key stretch.
Bellevue finished the game with a field goal percentage of 49.2 percent, while limiting York to 44.4 perent from the field.
The Bruins open up conference play next Friday, Dec. 4, when they travel to Madison, S.D. for a 7 p.m. contest at Dakota State University.
