POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team clamped down defensively and snapped a two-game losing streak with a convincing 91-70 victory over University of Saint Mary at the College of the Ozarks Classic on Tuesday evening.
Carl Robinson notched Bellevue's sixth double-double of the season finishing the night with 10 points and a game-best 10 rebounds. Mike Cardenas nearly matched Robinson's double-double tallying a game-high 19 points and hauling in eight boards. Three other Bruins – Jerred Cook (15), Eric Quall (12), and Chris Ashanti (10) – all scored in double figures.
The Bruins raced to a 21-point halftime lead behind a 50 percent shooting effort from the field, knocking down 7-of-17 three-point tries and connecting on 80 percent of their free throw attempts. Saint Mary kept in close early as the score was just 9-8 at the 14:34 mark. From the Bellevue went on an 11-0 run over a span of 2:43 to grab their first double digit lead of the evening. Cardenas scored eight of the game's next 10 points to put the Bruins up 28-12 and firmly in control of the game.
The teams started the second half by essentially trading baskets until for the first nine minutes. From there Bellevue got a three from Cardenas to key a 7-0 run that gave them a 25-point advantage. BU used another 7-0 run to grab a 31-point lead with 6:30 to play. The Bruins saw their largest lead of the game at the 5:06 mark following a made basket by Quall to put them up by 33. Bellevue scored just three points over the final five minutes of the game but by then their lead was too much for Saint Mary to overcome.
Brett Marsh's 16 points off the bench led the Spires while Grant Greenberg contributed 15 points. The Spires were held to just 34.3 percent shooting – including just a 25.8 percent rate from deep – while knocking down 14 of their 20 free throws on the evening.
Bellevue cooled off just a bit in the second half, finishing at an even 45 percent from the field and connecting on 41.4 percent of their trifectas. Bellevue shots 80.6 percent from the charity stripe on the night, their second-best effort of the season.
Bellevue wiped the glass with ease in this one, out-rebounding the Spires 51-32 on the evening, including a 12-10 edge on the offensive window.
The 21st-ranked Bruins improve to 13-7 on the season and will be back in action tomorrow with a 5 p.m. contest against host-school College of the Ozarks.
