BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Austin Moore led four BU players in double-figures with a career-high 18 points as the Bellevue University men's basketball team claimed a 92-70 victory over visiting Nebraska Christian College in the Bruins' final non-conference tilt of the season on Tuesday evening at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
With the win Bellevue improves their record at 11-8 on the season while Nebraska Christian sees their record fall to 11-6.
BU scored the first five points of the game and never trailed. After leading by as many as 14 in the first half Bellevue took a 12-point, 42-30, lead into the halftime break.
The Bruins largest lead came at the 14:19 mark of the second half as a Drew Apsher three-pointer stretched the Bellevue lead to 62-36. NCC clawed their way to within 15 at 64-49 with a 13-2 run over a span of just 4:42 but could get no closer the rest of the way.
Both teams shot well from the floor with BU hitting at a 52.7 percent clip to NCC's 44.8 percent effort. Bellevue held a clear edge in three-point shooting hitting at a 51.9 percent rate (14-27) to Nebraska Christian's 23.5 percent rate (4-17).
The 51.9 percent shooting from beyond the arc was Bellevue's highest since shooting 56.5 percent against Midland back on Dec. 29, 2016.
In addition to Moore's career-night – he also knocked down a career-high five three-pointers –Apsher scored a career-best 11 points on a personal-best three treys.
In total nine different BU players scored at least five points. Richard Reed and Blake Wilder each added 10 for the Bruins, Nick Hilton went for nine, BJ Shelton and Jaffery Stillman each scored eight, Jalen Hall added seven with four assists, Ty Anderson scored six, and Brian Stokes chipped in five. Stillman pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds for BU and Brandon Fagins secured nine rebounds.
DJ Hanes led NCC with a game-high 37 points on 14-27 shooting while knocking down 8-of-9 free throws. Chrys Jackson was the only other Sentinel in double digits, finishing with 10 points. Matt Lillquist scored five and pulled down a team-high six rebounds while Devin Jones added nine and a team-best four assists.
BU returns to NSAA play with a home game on Friday, Jan. 12 when they host Dickinson State at 7:30 p.m. at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
