BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team claimed the North Star Athletic Association regular-season title with a 76-58 victory over Valley City State University Saturday evening at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
The Bruins' win, combined with Mayville State's 65-59 loss at Waldorf University, gave BU the outright NSAA title and a first-round bye in next week's NSAA Tournament. Bellevue improved to 13-15 on the season and 8-4 in the NSAA.
VCSU dropped to 11-15 overall and 3-9 in league play.
Senior Jerome Bynum led four Bruins in double figures with 15 points, four rebounds, and two assists. Caleb Chiang finished with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc. Senior Makeem Loudermill added 10 points and three boards. Emarr Vinson chipped in with 10 points, three boards, and three assists.
Cleveland Bedgood paced the Vikings with 17 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field. He also added five rebounds and four assists. Cayden Rickard and Ladarious Stanfield finished with 12 points each.
The Vikings scored the first five points of the game and built a six-point lead following back-to-back buckets by Cleveland Bedgood, giving VCSU a 14-8 lead with 11:33 left in the first half. Bellevue battled back, using back-to-back buckets by Nigel Wilson to fuel a 9-1 Bruin run, giving BU a 17-15 lead with 6:53 left in the opening period.
A six-point Bruin run capped by a 3-pointer from Christian Carter extended the margin to eight points at 27-19 with 3:26 remaining before the intermission.
Four straight points by Vinson gave BU a double-digit margin at 31-21 at the 1:52 mark. Neither team scored for the remainder of the half as BU went into the locker room with a 10-point advantage.
Bynum led BU in the opening half with seven points on 3-of-7 shooting from the field. Wilson and Vinson scored six points each.
Bedgood and Rickard paced the Vikings in the opening half with six points apiece. VCSU shot just 37.5 percent from the field in the first period.
After VCSU scored the first four points of the second half to reduce the deficit to six points, the Bruins went on a 15-4 run to extend the margin to 17 points at 46-29 with 14:35 left in the contest.
The Vikings pulled to within 11 points following a 5-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from Jerome Washington, making it 50-39 at the 12-minute mark.
Two 3-pointers by TJ Fritz helped the Bruins move the margin back to 15 points (62-47) with 7:15 remaining.
VCSU got to within 11 points on two occasions, but each time, the Bruins answered with key buckets as BU cruised to the 76-58 victory.
Times and pairings for the NSAA Tournament will be announced later this weekend. The Bruins will host a semifinal matchup next Sunday at 1 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
