MADISON, S.D. -- Another suffocating defensive performance by the Bellevue University men's basketball team saw the Bruins stave off Dakota State University 65-53 on Wednesday evening in a battle of two of the three teams tied atop the North Star Athletic Association standings.

Bellevue improves to 11-14 on the year and 6-3 in conference play, moving a half game ahead of second place Mayville State. Dakota State drops to 15-10 overall and 5-4 in league play.

Bellevue got out to a quick 7-2 start, prompting a 30-second timeout from the Dakota State bench. After Josh Lewis hit a three to cut it to a two-point game, Caleb Chiang knocked down a wide-open look to elicit a second Trojan timeout in the first five and a half minutes.

Consecutive treys from TJ Fritz and a driving layup from Christian Carter pushed the lead to 13 at 18-5. A 12-footer by Jaden Phillips gave Bellevue a lead 20-8 at the media timeout.

The Bruins scored the 10 of the first 12 points of the unofficial second quarter to push their lead to 30-11 following a Phillips three at the 6:00 mark.

Uzo Dibiamaka hit a three from the wing to kick off a 12-0 DSU run that featured nine-straight points from Japjit Gill cut the deficit to 32-25 with 1:41 left in the half.

Emarr Vinson hit a couple free throws following a BU timeout to slow the momentum and Bellevue took a 36-29 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Gill led all scorers with 11 at the break while Phillips was the high scorer with 10 for the Bruins.

Dakota State made it a two-possession game for the first time since the opening minutes with a bucket in the lane by Taylor Edwards at the 16:22 mark. It was short-lived as the Bruins answered with nine-straight points to jump back ahead by double digits, 49-35, capped off by a Nigel Wilson free throw with 11:48 to play.

After a bucket by Uhana Ochan, Fritz drove the lane to put Bellevue back ahead by 14 ahead of the media timeout.

Emmanuel Akpan threw the ball away out of the media break and Liam Thompson hooked home an eight-footer at the Bruins found their then-largest lead of the second half at 16 points.

A quick four points from DSU gave the home side a little momentum that Phillips shuttered by burying a corner trey. The kicked off a 7-0 run as Bellevue led 59-41 with 4:19 remaining.

Bellevue shot just 58% at the line in the game, going 4-6 over the final seconds to hold on for the 12-point victory.

Phillips finished with a team-high 13 points for the Bruins. He was joined in double figures by Fritz and Makeem Loudermill with 12 and 10, respectively, while Vinson grabbed seven rebounds to lead the way on the glass.

Gill totaled 16 in the loss to lead Dakota State.

In holding DSU to just 53 points, Bellevue is now averaging allowing just 55.7 points per game over their last six games, having won five of those to take sole possession of first place. The Trojans shot just 33% for the game, the sixth time in seven games that BU has held their opponent below 40% shooting.

Bellevue travels to Mayville State on Saturday for a big showdown with the Comets. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. from the Lewy Lee Fieldhouse.