BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team has positioned themselves to compete for yet another league championship as they sit just two games behind first-place Dickinson State with two games in hand over the Blue Hawks. Incidentally, Bellevue hosts Dickinson State on Friday, Feb. 3 at 7:30 p.m. at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. The game will be featured as the NAIA Division II National Game of the Week.
Bellevue enters the game with an overall record of 15-8 including a 7-3 mark in NSAA play. Dickinson State comes into the game with an overall mark of 18-7 and a 10-2 record in conference games.
Prior to the men's game tipping off, the Bellevue (13-11, 6-4 NSAA) and Dickinson State (18-5, 11-1 NSAA) women's teams will play an important NSAA contest with post-season seeding implications on the line. That game is scheduled to tip-off at 5:30 p.m.
With wins in nine of their last 10 games, the 19th-ranked Bellevue University men's basketball team appears to be rounding into form at just the right time as the 2016/17 season enters its final month.
Dickinson State has won each of their last eight games, by an average of 22.8 points per contest, to move into sole possession of first place in the league.
Prior to Bellevue's nine-game win streak being snapped last week, BU had picked up impressive victories over then-No. 2 St. Francis (Ill.) and then-No. 20 Midland in addition to their seven conference wins.
The Bruins and Blue Hawks met earlier this season, back on Dec. 9, with Dickinson State pulling away in the second half for an 82-69 victory. In that game a pair of top 10 scorers in the conference, BU's BJ Shelton and Dickinson's Marcus White, each went for 20 points to lead their respective teams.
Bellevue has been led by BJ Shelton's 15.2 points per game and Jaffrey Stillman's 7.2 rebounds per game. Also scoring in double figures for the Bruins this seasons are Jalen Hall (10.5), Nick Hilton (10.1), and Mike Cardenas (10.0). Hall leads BU with 70 assists while Hilton is second with 55 on the year.
Dickinson State is led by White who averaged 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per game. He's received offensive support from Ryan Clark (10.2) and Jerry Shevlin (10.1), both of whom are averaging over 10 points per game for the Blue Hawks.
The 2016-17 season marks the second year for the NAIA Network Division II Men's Basketball Game of the Week, presented by Stretch Internet. These contests highlight member schools that utilize live Stretch Internet – the NAIA's video partner for 22-of-23 national championships – as their online video partner. At least one of the two schools in the Game of the Week is a Stretch Client.
