SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- Despite a season-high 22 points from Vinny Belcaster the Bellevue University men's basketball team dropped its final non-conference road game at Morningside University on Saturday afternoon, falling by a score of 82-69.
Bellevue falls to 8-5 on the year while Morningside improves to 10-3.
The first half was a back-and-forth affair with neither side gaining more than a six-point advantage which came on a trey from Vinny Belcaster with 7:40 to play that put Bellevue ahead 27-21.
Morningside controlled play for the rest of the half, out-scoring Bellevue 21-11 to close the period including a 12-2 run in 2:48 immediately following the three.
Bellevue pulled to within two on a pair of free throws from Belcaster and Morningside took a 42-38 lead into halftime.
The Mustangs came out strong in the second half with a 16-2 run in the first 3:31 to push their lead to a game-high 18 points, 58-40.
Bellevue countered by scoring nine of the next 12 to pull within a dozen but Morningside never let BU pull closer. The Bruins did make a late run scoring the final five points to account to the final 13-point margin.
Belcaster finished with a team-high 22 points and grabbed four boards while Paulo Araujo joined him in double figures with 12 points.
Joey Skoff paced the Mustangs with 20 points while Ely Doble (19), Aidan Vanderloo (16), and Brendan Buckley (11) all contributed double-figure scoring games with Doble and Buckley grabbing seven boards apiece to lead in the category.
The Bruins next play Thursday-Friday, December 29-30 when they host the Fairfield Inn by Marriott Classic.
