ORANGE CITY, Iowa -- Trailing by as many as 16 points late in the first half, the Bellevue University men's basketball team mounted their second furious comeback in as many days before falling just short, 74-71, to Northwestern College at the Northwestern/Pizza Ranch Classic.
The Red Raiders were forced into their closest game of the season but managed to stay unbeaten, improving to 6-0 on the year. Bellevue suffers second-straight defeat to slip to 3-4.
Trailing by just a point with 22 seconds left, Bellevue had the ball in the hands of Vinny Belcaster. He drove the lane and dished to Justin Motley on the block but Motley had his shot blocked by NWC's Alex Van Kalsbeek who hit two free throws at the opposite end.
Despite trailing by three, Bellevue still had 3.4 seconds on the clock and again it was Belcaster with the ball but his banked 30-footer rimmed out at the buzzer as Northwestern held on for the narrow win.
Belcaster led three Bruins in double figures with 21 points to go along with five board. Eric Pierce totaled 16 points and six rebounds with Paulo Araujo chipping in 14 points.
After being held to 13 combined points in the first half, the trio of Belcaster, Pierce, and Araujo combined for 38 second half points, going 13-18 from the floor and 9-9 at the line.
Van Kalsbeek and Trent Hilbrands combined for 50 points with the former going for a game-high 27 points and seven boards. Hilbrands poured in 23 points and recorded three steals.
Northwestern led from the opening tip, Van Kalsbeek scoring on the first possession of the game. NWC stretched their lead to 16, 42-26, by halftime.
Bellevue made a couple runs early in the second half but struggled to get the deficit to single digits.
Trailing 67-53, the Bruins made their run over the final 6:01. Belcaster sparked an 18-3 run with a three-pointer. A missed trey from the Red Raiders and a long-range shot from Pierce had Bellevue feeling they were back in it at 67-59.
BU rattled off four more points before a Van Kalsbeek layup with 2:39 to play. That was one of just two NWC field goals over the final 7:30 of the game.
With 34 seconds left, Bellevue took their first lead of the game on a driving layup from Belcaster.
Van Kalsbeek answered at the other end to set up the final sequence.
Bellevue plays an exhibition at 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening against Wayne State College before competing in the Viterbo Classic in La Crosse, Wis. over the weekend. At the Viterbo Classic, BU meets long-time rival College of the Ozarks at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 19 before facing Cardinal Stritch at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
