BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Senior guard Eric Pierce scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Bellevue University men's basketball team to a decisive, 68-48, victory over visiting Presentation College Friday night in North Star Athletic Association action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
Bellevue improved to 11-8 on the season with the victory and 3-1 in the NSAA. Presentation fell to 8-9 overall and 1-3 in league play.
Pierce nearly recorded a double-double, pulling down nine rebounds while also adding a pair of blocks and a steal. He was 4-of-5 shooting from long range.
Justin Motley collected his third double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Paulo Araujo registered nine points on 3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc while adding six rebounds.
Denzel McDuffey led the Saints with 14 points and eight boards. Lavell Brown added 11 points and two rebounds.
Sparked by five points from Vinny Belcaster, the Bruins used a 10-0 run to overcome an early 6-3 deficit, taking a 13-6 lead with 13 minutes remaining in the first half.
Four points from Motley in a 6-0 run extended the BU advantage to double digits at 19-8 at the 9:15 mark.
The two teams traded points over the next four minutes until PC used back-to-back 3-pointers by Brown and Dwight Felton to pull to within five points at 26-21 with four minutes left in the opening half.
The Bruins closed the half on a 9-2 run to take a 35-23 lead into the intermission.
Pierce led BU in the opening period with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field and a 2-of-2 effort from behind the arc.
Motley added eight points, connecting on all three of his field-goal attempts in the first half.
McDuffey paced the Saints in the opening 20 minutes of play, registering seven points and four rebounds.
After the Saints opened the second half with a 6-3 run to make it a single-digit contest, the Bruins used an 8-2 run to build a 15-point advantage at 46-31 at the 13-minute mark.
A layup by McDuffey and a free throw by Felton made it a 10-point game at 50-40 with 8:13 remaining.
The Bruins built a 17-point cushion highlighted by a pair of 3-pointers from Pierce, making it 62-45 at the 3:19 mark.
A layup by McDuffey cut the lead to 16 points at 62-46 and that was as close as the Saints would get as BU secured the 68-48 victory with a 6-2 run to end the contest.
Bellevue will host Mayville State University on Saturday (Jan. 15) at 6 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
