Bellevue basketball sweeps Viterbo; Bruins track opens indoor season at Prairie Wolf Invite

Bruins women hold off V-Hawks, 64-55

The Viterbo University women's basketball team battled back from a 13-point halftime deficit, taking the lead in the second half before Bellevue University hit six key free throws in the final two minutes to hold on for a 64-55 victory in North Star Athletic Association action Saturday afternoon in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. 

With the win, the Bruins improved to 10-10 on the season and 3-2 in the NSAA. Viterbo dropped to 6-9 overall and 1-3 in league play. 

Kaylee Denker led the Bruins with 15 points, eight rebounds, and three blocked shots. Delaney VanBlaricon added 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, including three 3-pointers. Gabby Moore was the third Bruin in double figures, finishing with 11 points along with two assists. 

Macy Stellner paced the V-Hawks with 11 points, five boards, and two assists. 

The Bruins used a 7-0 run at the end of the first and the start of the second frame to establish a 14-6 advantage, capped by a long triple by Moore. 

After another 3-pointer by Moore, Viterbo answered with buckets by Madison Hugdahl and Emma Wagner to slice the deficit to four points at 20-16 with four minutes left in the first half. Sparked by four-straight points from Zakiyyah Muhammad and a pair of 3-pointers by VanBlaricon, including one at the buzzer, the Bruins built a 34-21 advantage at the halftime break. 

Moore led BU in the first half with nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from long range. VanBlaricon added eight first-half points on 3-of-5 shooting. 

Stellner paced the V-Hawks with six first-half points. 

Stellner scored the first five points of the second half as VU opened the third frame on a 16-4 run to slice the deficit to one point at 38-37 with 2:44 left before the final stanza. 

BU countered with four-straight points by VanBlaricon, including her third 3-pointer of the game, giving the Bruins a five-point cushion, before taking a 44-40 lead heading into the final frame. 

After a 3-pointer by Wagner to open the fourth made it a one-point game, her second triple tied the contest at 46-all at the 7:14 mark. Viterbo took the lead at 48-46 on a layup by Emily McCurdy. 

The Bruins countered with a 6-0 run to regain the momentum at 52-48 on a Denker layup with four minutes remaining. After jumpers by Denker and Brandi Dunn gave BU a six-point edge, Nora Tucker's 3-pointer sliced the margin to three points at 56-53 at the 2:36 mark. 

Two free throws by Aminah Hall gave BU a five-point advantage (60-55) with 1:40 remaining. Dunn and Muhammad both drained a pair of free throws in the final 19 seconds to seal the 64-55 victory.  

The Bruins will host No. 13-ranked Mayville State University next Saturday, Jan. 27, at 3:00 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. 

Bellevue men cruise to 33-point win over V-Hawks

The Bellevue University men's basketball team shot 54.5 percent from the field and hit 14 3-pointers en route to a convincing 82-49 victory over visiting Viterbo University Saturday night in North Star Athletic Association action at the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center.  

With the win, the Bruins improved to 8-13 on the season and 3-2 in the NSAA. Viterbo dropped to 6-13 overall and 0-4 in league play. 

TJ Fritz led Bellevue with 19 points and five rebounds. He was 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. Caleb Chiang added 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting from 3-point land. 

Nigel Wilson produced 12 points, eight boards, and six blocked shots in the win. Emarr Vinson was the fourth Bruin in double figures, finishing with 11 points along with nine rebounds and four assists. 

Jack Monis was the lone V-Hawks in double figures, finishing with a game-high 22 points along with seven rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals.  

Two 3-pointers by Fritz sparked an 8-2 BU run, giving the Bruins a 19-11 lead midway through the first half. A dunk by Wilson sparked a 7-0 Bruin spurt, extending the margin to 14 points at 28-14 with 6:09 left in the first half.  

Another dunk by Wilson, followed by a reverse layup from Makeem Loudermill doubled the score to 32-16 at the 3:28 mark. 

Fritz's fourth 3-pointer of the half gave the Bruins a 37-19 lead at the intermission. 

Fritz led the Bruins in the first half with 12 points, going 4-of-6 from long range. Wilson scored eight first-half points on 4-of-4 shooting while adding six rebounds and three blocks. 

Monis paced the V-Hawks with nine first-half points.

Bellevue scored the first 10 points of the second half, including five straight from Vinson to push the margin to 28 points at 47-19.

Another triple by Fritz made it a 30-point game at 61-31 with 10:22 remaining in the contest. Viterbo never got closer than 28 points the remainder of the contest as BU cruised to the 82-49 victory.  

The Bruins will host (RV) Mayville State University next Saturday, Jan. 27, at 5:00 p.m. in the Gordon Lozier Athletic Center. 

Bruins open indoor season at Prairie Wolf Invite

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Bellevue University track team opened their 2024 indoor campaign on Friday (Jan. 19) competing at the Prairie Wolf Invite hosted by Nebraska Wesleyan at UNL's Bob Devaney Center.  After an especially cold and snowy start to winter, the Bruins were able to get inside for some racing.

Collin Kotz had the Bruin's highest placing of the day with his 19^th place finish in the meet featuring squads from NCAA Divisions I, II and III. Kotz ran 4:48.51 for the full mile. Also in the mile were Griffin Kipchumba and Robbie Siford, both running their first track races for the Bruins. Kipchumba ran to a 4:55.95 finish while Siford crossed in 5:04.20. Both Kipchumba and Siford would return for a second race with Siford running 2:59.87 for 1,000 meters and Kipchumba clocking 9:59.95 in the 3,000-meter event.

On the women's side, Oliva Russo was fifth in the 3,000-meter run with a time of 12:33.76. Earlier in the day she had contested the mile run finishing in 6:15.89. Also in the mile was Ashley Guatemala running 6:29.28 in her first track race as a Bruin. Guatemala came back a short time later in the 800 meters, running 2:5297 while teammate Alicia Rivera Camargo finished ahead of her in 2:44.65.

Head Coach Craig Christians said: "It was a starting place for us and I expect that we'll see improvement over the next few meets. The winter has confined us to treadmills and we had really only been on an indoor track once leading up to the meet so it was good to get a race under our belts."

Next up for the Bruins will be next Saturday when they travel to Seward for the Concordia Classic