FREMONT, Neb. -- Midland University shot 52% in the second half to pull away from a 26-all halftime tie and defeat the Bellevue University men's basketball 69-57 in non-conference action on Sunday afternoon at the Draemel Classic.
Midland, winners of three-straight, improves to 8-3 on the season while Bellevue drops to 6-5 and sees their modest three-game win streak snapped.
Taylor Pomeroy led the Bruins with 19 points, highlighted by a 4-of-7 effort from downtown. Justin Motley and Martis Johnson joined in double figures with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Motley added seven rebounds and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the free throw line while Johnson hit on 3-of-6 three-point attempts.
Bo Sandquist scored 14 of his game-high 20 points and the second half to lead Midland. Tyler Sandoval (18 points) and Laurence Merritt (14 points, 7 assists) joined Sandquist in double figures.
Bellevue started strong, grabbing a seven-point lead by the midway mark of the first half. A bucket by Vaj Rice put the Bruins back up seven with 8:04 to play before a 13-0 run from Midland over a span of 3:19 put the Warriors in front.
Johnson and Ryan Larsen traded threes before triples from Paulo Araujo and Johnson on consecutive BU possessions gave the Bruins a 26-23 with 1:25 to play in the first half.
Sandquist drained a trey inside the final minute to tie the score at 26-26 at intermission.
The Bruins opened the second half strong as well, taking a three-point lead on a corner trey from Christian Carter at the 16:04 mark. Midland rattled off six-straight points before an and-one from Vinny Belcaster tied the game at 39-39 with 13:51 remaining. 13:37 3 Bo
That would be the only Bruin field goal for the next six minutes as the Warriors used a 15-0 scoring run to take control of the game. Midland built a 56-41 lead before Bellevue's next basket, a three from Pomeroy with 7:35 to play.
The Bruins open conference play on Saturday, Dec. 4 when they travel to Madison, S.D. for a 5 p.m. tip-off against Dakota State University (3-8) in a rematch of last season's NSAA Championship Game, which BU won 63-57.
