BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Despite no field goals in the final 8:58 of the game, two free throws by Liam Thompson with 3.8 seconds remaining helped the Bellevue University men's basketball team pull out a 67-65 non-conference victory over Briar Cliff University Monday night in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
The win helped the Bruins improve to 5-9 on the season. Briar Cliff suffered its third-straight loss, falling to 9-5 overall.
Makeem Loudermill led the Bruins with 14 points, four rebounds, and two blocked shots. Jerome Bynum finished with 12 points, three steals, and a pair of assists.
Jaden Phillips was the third Bruin in double figures, registering 11 points along with three rebounds and a block.
Matthew Stilwill paced the Chargers with 17 points, two rebounds, and a pair of assists. Wil Lugar added 12 points, seven boards, four assists, and two blocks.
Sparked by a dunk from Phillips, the Bruins used an 8-0 run to build an early 17-9 lead with 11 minutes remaining in the opening half. The Chargers responded with a 5-0 spurt capped by a 3-pointer by Quinn Vessey to slice the deficit to three points (17-14) at the midway point of the period.
The teams played evenly over the next seven minutes until back-to-back buckets by Loudermill and a 3-pointer by Phillips gave BU a 34-24 advantage at the 2:31 mark.
Bynum drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to make it 39-29 at the intermission.
Bynum led the Bruins in the first half with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. Loudermill added eight points on 4-of-4 shooting.
Stilwill paced the Chargers with 13 first-half points as the Chargers shot 39.3 percent from the field.
After Bellevue scored the first four points of the second half to push the margin to 14 points, BCU used a 13-2 run to slice the lead to three at 47-44 with 12:33 left in the game. The Bruins answered with consecutive 3-pointers by Philips and Fritz to make it a nine-point contest (53-44) at the 11:24 mark.
A 7-1 Charger run made it a two-point game at 60-58 following a 3-pointer by Garrett Trapp with 5:50 left in the game. BCU tied the game at 65-all with 55 seconds remaining, following a five-point run capped by two free throws by Blake Sindelar.
After a Bruin turnover and a missed jumper by the Chargers, Thompson, who was 2-of-6 at the charity stripe on the season, drained two free throws to give BU a 67-65 edge. Stilwell missed a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer as BU claimed the two-point victory.
The Bruins will be idle until Dec. 29-30, when they host the Fairfield Inn Bruin Classic at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. BU will take on Mount Marty on Dec. 29 at 7 p.m. before concluding the tournament with a 7 p.m. matchup against Doane on Dec. 30.
