YORK, Neb. -- The No. 24 Bellevue University men's basketball team dropped their season-opener by a score of 79-65 on Friday evening to No. 17 York College at the Panthers' Tip-Off Classic.
The Panthers improve to 2-0 while Bellevue falls to 0-1 as they drop their opener for just the third time under Shane Paben.
Bellevue was led by Jalen Hall's 15 points and game-high eight rebounds. Blake Wilder poured in 11 points and helped with seven boards.
BJ Shelton (8 points, 7 rebounds) and Jaffrey Stillman (7 points, 7 rebounds) both had strong efforts for BU who out-rebounded York 47-34 on the night.
Nick Hilton led the Bruins with three assists.
Cameron Coleman led the Panthers with 19 points on 7-for-10 shooting while Johnny Cooksey (12 points) and Keith Mack (10) both reached double-figures for the hosts.
The Bruins struggled to get anything going from beyond the arc, hitting on just three of their 16 attempts from deep. Mike Cardenas (7 points), Jerred Cook (3 points), and Hilton (3 points) each made one trifecta.
BU out-scored York in the paint (52-40) and on second chance points (14-9) but were out-scored 27-7 in the points off turnover category. The Bruins committed 25 turnovers on the game but York turned it over just 10 times.
Bellevue returns to the floor when they play their second game at the York Tip-Off Classic against Friends University at 3 p.m.
