LANGSTON, Okla. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team saw their season come to an end on Friday evening in a 79-40 loss at No. 2 Langston University in the first round of the 2024 NAIA National Tournament.
Langston improves to 31-1 and advances to play the winner of 8-seed Southwestern College and 9-seed Ave Maria University tomorrow at 6 p.m. with a trip to Kansas City for the NAIA Final Site on the line.
The Bruins, up against the No. 2 scoring defense and No. 9 field goal defense in the NAIA, struggled to find any offensive rhythm throughout the game. As such, they were held to just 28% shooting and forced into 18 turnovers on the night.
Bellevue concludes the year with a 15-16 overall record, added a pair of conference championships – bringing their total to 37 – by winning the NSAA Regular Season and Tournament crowns, and reached their 22nd NAIA National Tournament.
Bellevue kept the game relatively close in the early minutes, trailing 15-8 at the 10:25 mark of the first half before a 39-6 run by the Lions over 15:16 pushed the hosts ahead by 40.
Anthony Roy led a trio of Lions in double figures, finishing with 23 points and nine rebounds. Cortez Mosley added 17 points and eight boards while D'Monte Brown chipped in 12 points.
TJ Fritz led the Bruins with 11 points. Jerome Bynum added nine points while Makeem Loudermill threw in six. Christian Carter and Jaden Phillips each grabbed five rebounds to lead the way on the glass.
