BELLEVUE, Neb. -- Senior TJ Fritz led four Bruins in double figures with 16 points as the Bellevue University men's basketball team earned an 86-45 victory over visiting Union Adventist University Saturday night in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
With the win, the Bruins improved to 2-1 on the season. UAU fell to 1-3 overall.
Fritz nailed four 3-pointers in the victory and added four rebounds, two assists, and a blocked shot.
Matt Mathok finished with 11 points, four boards, and a pair of steals. Liam Thompson and RJ Smith chipped in with 10 points apiece.
Jonathan Grubbs paced the Warriors with 12 points and two assists.
Mathok scored five straight points to give the Bruins an early 12-4 lead in the first five minutes of the contest. The Warriors answered with a 7-2 run capped by a 3-pointer from Josh Keongo to pull to within two points at 14-12 at the 12:26 mark of the first half. Fritz scored five points in a 7-2 BU spurt to push the BU advantage back to seven points at 21-14 at the midway point of the first half.
The Bruins closed the half on a 15-3 run to take a 43-22 lead into the intermission.
Fritz led BU in the opening half with 10 points on 2-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Thompson added eight points, four boards, and four assists.
Grubbs paced the Warriors with seven first-half points.
The Bruins scored the first eight points of the second half and went on a 13-2 run to push the margin to 32 points at 56-24 with 16:40 left in the game. The Warriors never got closer than 30 points for the rest of the contest at BU cruised to the 86-45 victory.
Bellevue will travel to La Crosse, Wis., next Friday-Saturday, Nov. 15-16, to compete in the Viterbo Classic. BU will take on St. Francis (Ill.) at 5 p.m. on Friday and host Viterbo at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
