BELLEVUE, Neb. -- The Bellevue University men's basketball team shot 62 percent from the field and nailed 13-of-22 3-pointers as BU cruised to an 88-56 victory over visiting Haskell Indian Nations University in the Four Points by Sheraton Bruin Classic being played at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
BU improved to 9-5 on the season with the victory. HINU dropped to 4-12 overall.
JJ Montgomery led the Bruins with 15 points, going 5-of-6 from beyond the arc while adding five assists and three rebounds. Matt Mathok was a perfect 6-of-6 from the field and 1-of-1 from the charity stripe, scoring 13 points and adding four boards. Connor Mohr scored a career-high 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from long range. Deng Jal finished with eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
Nehemi Boykins paced the Indians with 16 points and two rebounds. DK Middleton added nine points, five steals, and two boards.
After being held scoreless for the first four minutes of the contest, the Bruins went on an 18-8 run, sparked by 3-pointers from Mohr and Montgomery, to take a 10-point lead at the 10-minute mark. The Indians countered with a 9-2 spurt highlighted by seven points from Middleton to close the deficit to three points at 22-19 with 6:18 left before the break.
Triples by Montgomery and Mohr started an 8-0 BU run, extending the margin to 11 points at 32-21 at the 3:20 mark. After trading 3-pointers, a deep triple at the buzzer by Jal gave the Bruins a 38-26 lead heading into the intermission.
Four different Bruins (Mathok, Montgomery, Mohr, and Jal) scored six points in the opening half to lead the BU offense that shot 66.7 percent (14-of-21) from the field and 70 percent (7-of-10) from beyond the arc.
Middleton paced the Indians in the first half with seven points and a pair of steals.
A pair of 3-pointers by Mohr sparked a 14-4 Bruin run to expand the margin to 21 points at 55-34 with 16 minutes left in the contest. HINU answered with four straight to get to within 17 points before the Bruins used an 8-2 run to extend the lead to 23 (63-40) at the 10:55 mark.
The Indians countered with six straight, including four from Boykin, to once again pull to within 17 (63-46) with 10 minutes remaining. That was as close as the Indians would get as BU pulled away for the 32-point victory.
The Bruins will conclude the tournament on Monday (Dec. 30) with a 7 p.m. contest against 14th-ranked Morningside University in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.
