DICKINSON, N.D. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team fought back from a 19-point second-half deficit to pull to within five points, but Dickinson State University held on for a 73-66 victory in North Star Athletic Association action Friday night at Scott Gymnasium.
The loss dropped the Bruins to 6-12 on the season and 1-1 in the NSAA.
Dickinson improved to 10-6 overall and 1-0 in league play.
Jerome Bynum led the Bruins with 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field. He was 4-of-6 from beyond the arc and a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe. Bynum was the lone Bruin in double figures.
Caleb Chiang finished with nine points off the bench.
Trey Stevens guided the Blue Hawk offense, finishing with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field, including a 3-of-3 effort from long range.
John Evans registered 12 points, and Josiah Haaland finished with 11 points, four rebounds, and three blocks.
After Christian Carter opened the game with a bucket in the paint, the Bruins went scoreless for over five minutes as DSU built an early 7-2 lead. The Blue Hawks extended the lead to 10 points at 16-6 following an 8-0 run midway through the first half.
After a jumper by Evans gave DSU an 11-point margin, the Bruins got baskets from Liam Thompson and Carter to make it a seven-point contest. The Blue Hawks countered with a 6-0 run, including four straight free throws by Evans to extend the DSU margin to 13 points (32-19) with two minutes remaining before the intermission.
The Blue Hawks closed the half on a 7-2 run to take a commanding 39-22 lead into the halftime break.
Bynum led the Bruins in the opening half with seven points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field.
Evans paced the Blue Hawks with eight first-half points as DSU outshot the Bruins 50 to 30 percent in the opening 20 minutes of play.
The two teams traded points for the first seven minutes of the second half until the Bruins went on a 6-0 to pull to within 13 points at 50-37 with 11:24 left in the contest.
After a short jumper by Evans gave the Blue Hawks a 17-point advantage, the Bruins used an 8-0 spurt to make it a single-digit contest at 57-48 following a layup by Carter at the 7:45 mark. The Bruins drew to within eight points after a jumper in the paint by Jaden Phillips made it 60-52 with 6:44 left.
A pair of deep triples by Nigel Wilson and Bynum helped pull the Bruins to within five points at 66-61 with 2:18 remaining in the game.
Stevens hit a key jumper in the paint and nailed two free throws with six seconds remaining to seal the 73-66 victory.
The Bruins will travel to Valley City, N.D., on Saturday (Jan. 13) for a 5 p.m. NSAA matchup at Valley City State University.
