LA CROSSE, Wis. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team showcased their defensive proclivity as they did not allow a V-Hawk field goal during a decisive 26-3, nine-minute second half run in a 76-56 win over Viterbo University on Friday evening in North Star Athletic Association action at the R.W. Beggs Sr. Gymnasium.
Bellevue improves to 13-10 overall and 6-2 in conference play while Viterbo dips to 5-6 on the season and 2-4 in NSAA action.
Jaylen Wiltz paced the Bruins with a season-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the floor, including a 3-of-5 effort from deep. Michael Wright (15) and Justin Motley (10) joined him in double figures. Jemeil King scored nine points with three other Bruins adding five apiece.
Jack Monis was the lone player in double figures for the V-Hawks, finishing with team-highs of 16 points and six rebounds.
Bellevue made seven of their first eight field goal attempts as they built a 17-12 lead by the 12:47 mark. Six different Bruins scored during this spurt with Wright the only player recording multiple field goals. The lead could have been bigger if not for 5 turnovers leading direct to 6 V-Hawk points.
Following a four-minute field goal drought from both sides, the Bruins stretched their lead to nine on a corner three from Wiltz with 8:43 to play in the half.
Viterbo then saw its offense begin to pick up as the home side went on a 9-2 scoring run over the next four minutes to pull within one possession at 24-22.
Wiltz put an end to the run on the ensuing possession by draining his third trifecta of the half to kick off an 8-1 Bruin run in just 70 seconds as Bellevue stretched the lead back to nine points, 32-23, with 3:49 to go before the break.
Trailing by six points, Viterbo's Noah Fredrickson connected on an elbow three-pointer as the game clock expired to trim the Bruin lead to just three, 34-31, at the intermission.
Wiltz led all players with 11 points at the break while Monis paced Viterbo with 10 to go along with four rebounds. Nine Bruins found their way into the scoring column in the first half as their balanced offensive approach led to a 61% effort from the floor in the first 20 minutes.
Both teams traded barbs to begin the second half as the Bellevue lead hovered between one and five points until back-to-back buckets from Motley put BU ahead 51-43 with 11:13 to play.
Following a missed free throw from Monis at the Viterbo end, Wiltz hit a jumper in the paint to give BU their first double-figure lead of the game as Bellevue held a 53-43 lead at the media timeout.
That was all part of a 26-3 BU run which saw the Bruins take their largest lead of the game, a 25-point advantage after a pair of free throws by Vinny Belcaster.
Bellevue shot 65% from the field and 47.1% from three while holding Viterbo to just 44.7% from the floor and 28.6% from beyond the arc. The Bruins held a 30-18 rebounding advantage and hit on 8-of-9 free throws compared with Viterbo's paltry 12-of-24 effort from the charity stripe.
The Bruins are back in action tomorrow evening against Waldorf University (3-11/2-4 NSAA). Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. from Hanson Fieldhouse.
