BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Viterbo University men's basketball team snapped the Bruins' three-game winning streak as VU handed Bellevue University a 67-63 loss Friday night in North Star Athletic Association action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
The loss dropped the Bruins to 12-9 on the season and 4-2 in the NSAA.
Viterbo improved to 10-9 overall and 4-2 in league play.
Vinny Belcaster and Jerome Bynum scored 11 points each to pace the BU offense. Paulo Araujo added 10 points, nine rebounds, and six assists in the loss.
Robert Cunitz (22) and Brady Polk (18) combined for 40 points to lead Viterbo. Jack Monis added 14 points and five rebounds.
Cunitz scored nine of the V-Hawks first 11 points as VU grabbed an early 16-13 lead with 11:17 remaining in the first half. Neither team scored for nearly four minutes until a short jumper by Jack Monis extended the VU lead to five points at the 7:42 mark.
The margin remained at five points after a 3-pointer by Dakota Mannel gave VU a 29-24 advantage at the one-minute mark.
A 10-foot jumper in the lane by Cunitz gave the V-Hawks a 31-24 lead at the intermission.
Johnson led BU in the opening half with six points on 3-of-3 shooting from the field.
Cunitz paced the V-Hawks in the first half with 16 points and three rebounds. He was 7-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from behind the arc.
Viterbo shot just 37.1 percent from the field in the first half but was able to take advantage of eight offensive rebounds to score nine second-chance points compared to none for the Bruins in the opening 20 minutes of play.
After the V-Hawks built a nine-point lead early in the second half, a pair of 3-pointers by Taylor Pomeroy and Paulo Araujo sparked an 8-2 BU run to cut the deficit to three at 37-34 at the 16-minute mark.
VU countered with a 5-0 run over the next two minutes to gain an eight-point cushion.
The Bruins took their first lead of the second half following a nine-point run giving BU a 43-42 edge after a Motley layup at the 8:51 mark.
The V-Hawks responded with a 14-3 run over the next five minutes to gain a 56-46 advantage with four minutes remaining in the game.
A 3-pointer by Araujo drew the Bruins to within eight points with 30 seconds left in the contest.
After a pair of free throws by Polk, a deep 3-pointer by Belcaster made it a seven-point game at 64-57 with 21 seconds remaining.
Cunitz made 1-of-2 free throws followed by another deep triple from Belcaster to pull the Bruins to within five (65-60) with 10.5 seconds left.
Polk sealed the victory with a pair of free throws. Jerome Bynum drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make the final, 67-63.
The Bruins will host Waldorf University at 5 p.m. on Saturday (Jan. 22) in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
