January 17, 2025
BELLEVUE, Neb. – Bellevue (Neb.) held off Dakota State's (S.D.) late comeback in the North Star Athletic Association men's basketball action Friday evening at Gordon Lozier Athletic Conference. The Trojans were seeking their first conference win of the season and fell short to the Bruins by the score of 68-63.
Dakota State dropped their overall record to 7-11 and 0-6 NSAA conference record. Bellevue improved to 11-8 overall record and 3-3 record in the league. Both teams will play their third conference meeting on Feb. 7 in Bellevue.
The Trojans return home as they host Jamestown (N.D.) next Friday in the annual cancer awareness game. The game is set for 7:30 p.m. at DSU Fieldhouse in Madison, S.D.
Bellevue (Neb.) 68, Dakota State (S.D.) 63 – FINAL
Dakota State took the first lead of the game after a 3-point play (assisted by
Lane Tietz) for a 3-0 lead with nineteen minutes and fifty-five seconds on the clock.
Bellevue answered with back-to-back 3-pointers from JJ Montgomery and TJ Fritz for a 6-3 lead with 19:02 on the clock in the first half.
The Bruins ballooned their lead to 23-14 after a 3-pointer from Christian Carter with 11:21 to go before halftime.
Trailing 25-16, the Trojans trimmed their deficit to 25-20 after a layup by
Nolan Segner (assisted by
Isaac Sumption) with 8:33 in the first half.
Bellevue returned their lead at nine points at 30-21 as Carter made a layup with less than six minutes to go before intermission.
The Trojans then scored five straight points to cut their deficit back to four points.
Aiden Jensen and Tietz made layups and capped with a free throw from Sumption (DSU trailed 30-26 with 2:28 on the clock in the first half).
Tietz closed the first half with a layup as Dakota State trailed 36-31.
DSU was 12-of-25 from the field in the first twenty minutes (48 percent) compared to BU 12-of-23 field goals (52.2 percent).
The Trojans opened the second half with a layup by Dillenbeck as they trailed 36-33 with 19:13 remaining.
Dakota State kept Bellevue scoreless for the first three minutes of the second half. Caleb Chiang hit a 3-pointer to end BU's scoring drought to lead 39-33 with 17:30 to go.
The Bruins maintained their lead between four- and eight- points for 12-plus minutes until they recorded the biggest lead of the game. Carter hit a jump shot to extend Bellevue's lead to 61-51 with 4:13 remaining.
Tietz drained a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession (assisted by Jensen) as the Trojans called a timeout with 3:56 left, trailing 61-54.
The Trojans kept the Bruins scoreless, reducing their deficit to three points after a free throw from
Taine Mitchell and capped with a 3-pointer by
Brayden Pankonen with less than two minutes to go (DSU trailed 61-58).
Mitchell hit a pair of free-throws as Dakota State trailed 63-61 with 40 seconds remaining in the game. DSU committed a foul on the next possession as Raphael Allen added a pair of free throws to put BU up 65-61 with less than 35 seconds to go.
The Trojans could not convert their scoring opportunity on the next possession and committed a foul on the Bruins. Emarr Vinson added a pair of free throws as BU's lead grew to 67-61 with less than 15 seconds to go in the game.
Tietz hit a jump shot as the Trojans trailed 67-63 with less than eight seconds to go, falling short.
Both teams scored 32 points in the second half. The Trojans were 10-of-26 from the field (38.5 percent) compared to the Bruins 9-of-18 field goals (50 percent). BU hit 13-of-18 free throws in the final twenty minutes, while DSU was 9-of-12 free throws.
Four Dakota State players scored in double digits, led by Tietz with 15 points. He also dished out three assists. Dillenbeck scored 11 points on his 5-of-6 field goals. Mitchell and Jensen each scored 10 points. Mitchell had four rebounds. Jensen registered three rebounds and a block.
Calvin Payne tallied five points and two assists off the bench for DSU.
Lukas Morgan had four rebounds.
Fritz, Vinson, and Nigel Wilson each scored 10 points for Bellevue. Wilson registered four rebounds and four assists. RJ Smith had nine points and four rebounds. Carter had seven points. Matt Mathok scored eight points.
Dakota State shot 43.1 percent overall from the field (22-of-51 field goals) compared to Bellevue 51.2 percent (21-of-41 field goals). The Bruins hit 20-of-26 at the free throw line (76.9 percent), while the Trojans were 15-of-21 free throws (71.4 percent).
The Bruins pulled down 29 rebounds to the Trojans 26 rebounds. DSU outscored BU 13-7 in second chance points and 12-10 in points off turnovers. Bellevue outscored Dakota State 35-24 in bench points.
