BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Eric Pierce led four Bruins in double figures with 17 points as the Bellevue University men's basketball team recorded a 61-52 victory over visiting Peru State College in the final game of the Chick-Fil-A Classic at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center Saturday night.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 3-2 on the season. Peru dropped to 1-3 overall.
In addition to his 17 points, Pierce added eight rebounds, two assists, two blocks, and a steal.
Vinny Belcaster added 12 points on four 3-pointers, along with four rebounds. Paulo Araujo finished with 11 points, three assists, and a pair of rebounds. Justin Motley was the fourth Bruin in double figures, finishing with 10 points along with six rebounds and a pair of assists.
Jibril Harris was the lone Bobcat in double figures, registering 10 points along with nine rebounds. Ajantae Hogan added nine points and Skyler Wilson finished with eight points and eight rebounds.
After PSC scored the first two points of the contest, the Bruins rattled off 12-straight points highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Belcaster to give BU an early 12-2 advantage.
The Bruins maintained a 10-point cushion at 22-12 following a layup from Araujo with 6:11 left in the first half.
A pair of free throws from Pierce kept the lead at 10 at 27-17 at the three-minute mark before Peru closed the half on a 7-2 run to close the gap to five at 29-24 at halftime.
Araujo led the Bruins in the opening half with nine points, going a perfect 3-for-3 from the field, including a 3-pointer. He also connected on both of his free throw attempts. Pierce added eight points and four rebounds and Belcaster finished the opening 20 minutes with six points on a pair of triples.
Troy Houghton led Peru in the opening half with six points and four boards.
Harris scored the first five points of the second half for the Bobcats, drawing PSC to within two at 31-29 at the 17:46 mark.
After a pair of free throws by Araujo gave BU an eight-point lead, PSC battled back with six-consecutive points to pull to within two points at 41-39 at the 13:14 mark.
Neither team was able to get on a run over the next 12 minutes with the largest lead for BU at six points. After a 3-pointer by Henry Tanksley drew the Bobcats to within two at 54-52 at the 1:32 mark, the Bruins scored the final seven points of the contest, including four from Motley and three from Pierce, to secure the 61-52 victory.
The Bruins will travel to Orange City, Iowa next Friday-Saturday, Nov. 12-13 to compete in the Pizza Ranch Classic on the Northwestern (Iowa) College campus. BU will take on Dordt on Friday (Nov. 12) at 4 p.m. and Northwestern on Saturday (Nov. 13) at 6 p.m.
