VALLEY CITY, N.D. -- Vinny Belcaster drained a pair of clutch free throws with 6.5 seconds to play to lift the Bellevue University men's basketball team to a 73-70 victory over Valley City State University on Saturday evening.
BU overcame a 4-of-11 effort at the free throw line in the second half to improve to 10-8 overall and 2-1 in NSAA play. VCSU slips to 10-6 (1-2 North Star).
Taylor Pomeroy led all scorers with 18 points. Jeromy Bynum scored 14 and Eric Pierce added 12 and eight rebounds. Justin Motley scored six points and pulled down 10 boards.
Kevin Schramm paced four Vikings in double figures with 15 points. Jalen Addison contributed 14 with Eddie Oyet and Uhana Ochan adding 12 apiece.
Bellevue used their strong defense to build an early 9-2 lead by the 15:08 mark.
Schramm pulled the Vikings within a possession 13-11, with a three-pointer but Pierce and Martis Johnson answered with transition layups. Johnson, fouled on his, sank a free throw to convert an old-fashioned three-point play for an 18-11 advantage.
Schramm hit another trey to cap 9-2 VCSU run that tied the game at 20-all with 6:47 to play.
Pomeroy rattled off seven-straight points and Bynum nailed a corner three to mark a 10-0 Bruin run over the next 2:29.
A pair of Viking layups, sandwiched around another Bynum trey pulled the home side within single digits but Motley hit a pair of free throws to give Bellevue a 35-24 lead at the break.
Pomeroy's nine points paced BU at the half. Pierce added eight points for Bellevue and Bynum contributed six. Schramm led Valley City with eight and Addison chipped in six.
VCSU coach Ryan Montgomery received a technical as the teams headed into the halftime break and Paulo Araujo opened the second half by sinking the second of two free throws.
Valley City opened the second half with a 5-0 run before things settled down as Bellevue maintained an 8-10 point lead.
After VCSU cut the Bruin lead to 44-38 answered back with a 7-0 run. Pomeroy hit a three and Bynum drove the lane for a layup prompting a Viking timeout before Motley capped the run with a bucket from Pierce to push the lead to 51-38.
Valley City then ran off a 10-3 run to get back in the game before Vaj Rice stemmed the momentum with a layup off a dish from Johnson.
That bucket from Rice kicked off a 6-0 Bruin run that saw Bellevue take their largest lead at 60-48.
Leading by nine Vinny Belcaster drilled a long-range three to push the BU lead to 70-58 with xxx left, seemingly putting the game in hand.
However, Valley City scored eight-straight points to pull within four, 70-66 with 2:15 remaining.
With 34.3 seconds to play, Eddie Oyet sank a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to 70-68.
At the other end, Belcaster hit the first of two free throws with 23.8 seconds on the clock. VCSU came down with the rebound and used their final timeout with 18.1 seconds to play.
Jalen Addison scored an uncontested layup with eight seconds remaining to make it a one-point game and Belcaster hit a pair of free throws with 6.5 seconds left.
The Bruins host Presentation College (Friday, Jan. 14, 5:30 p.m.) and Mayville State University (Saturday, Jan. 15, 3 p.m.) next weekend.
