MAYVILLE, N.D. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball dropped a hard-fought 83-82 overtime thriller at Mayville State University Saturday night in North Star Athletic Association action at the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.
After giving up an early lead, the Bruins fell behind and pulled close on multiple occasions, only to see MSU answer back each time. However, the Bruins scored the final seven points in regulation to force overtime.
The Comets seized early control of the overtime and, much like regulation, never relinquished the lead while pulling out the one-point victory.
The loss dropped the Bruins to 11-8 on the season and 3-2 in the NSAA. MSU remained unbeaten in league play, improving to 15-3 overall and 5-0 in conference games.
Paulo Araujo and Vinny Belcaster both scored 22 points to lead the BU offense. Araujo added seven rebounds and a pair of steals. Belcaster drained 4-of-8 shots from long range. Justin Motley recorded his third double-double of the season, finishing with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Taylor Pomeroy was the fourth Bruin in double figures, registering 13 points on 3-of-6 shooting from behind the arc.
Thomas Gieske led all players with 26 points on 10-of-15 shooting while adding eight boards. Trent Blackshire added 18 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Jamison Kramer finished with 14 points and four boards.
The Bruins scored the first eight points of the contest, holding MSU scoreless for the opening 5:24 of play.
BU maintained an eight-point advantage until the Comets used a 15-3 run to gain a 22-18 advantage as a layup by Araujo snapped a three-and-a-half-minute scoring drought.
Four-straight points by Colby Dillenbeck gave the Comets a six-point cushion at 26-20 with four minutes remaining before halftime.
The Bruins used a 3-pointer by Pomeroy at the buzzer to climb to within two points at 30-28 at the intermission.
Araujo led BU in the opening half with nine points and four rebounds. Pomeroy added eight points and was 2-of-4 from behind the arc.
Blackshire paced the Comets with 10 first-half points, going 4-of-6 from the field. Geiske added nine points and four boards in the opening 20 minutes of play.
Bellevue was 4-of-11 from behind the arc in the first half, while MSU went 0-of-5 from long range.
After a 3-pointer by Kramer gave the Comets a five-point edge, the Bruins battled back to within one point following a triple by Belcaster, making it 39-38 at the 15:55 mark. A traditional 3-point play by Motley made it a one-point game at 45-44.
It stayed a one-point contest after a Motley layup made it 50-49 at the 11-minute mark. Two-straight layups by Gieske forced a BU timeout, with MSU leading 54-49 at the 10:24 mark.
A 15-foot jumper by Raphael Allen and three-straight points from Motley sparked a 5-2 BU run pulling the Bruins to within a pair at 56-54 with 7:41 left in the game.
Five consecutive Comet points capped by a short jumper from Gieske pushed the MSU margin up to seven points at 61-54 with six minutes remaining.
After a pair of free throws from Motley and a layup by Araujo made it a two-point game, the Comets answered with 3-pointers by Gieske and Kramer, giving the Comets another seven-point cushion at 69-62 at the 2:28 mark.
The Bruins used one final run, scoring four straight on layups by Araujo and Martis Johnson and a 3-pointer by Araujo to knot the contest at 69-all with 25 seconds remaining. A missed 3-pointer by Blackshire sent the game into overtime.
A pair of mid-range jumpers by Kramer and Sebastian Griffin gave the Comets a 78-73 margin with 1:53 left in overtime. The Bruins narrowed the gap to three points on two occasions, but it wasn't enough as Araujo's 3-pointer at the buzzer made the final, 83-82.
The Bruins will continue their four-game conference road swing when they travel to Forest City, Iowa, next Friday, Jan. 20, for a 7:30 p.m. battle at Waldorf University.
