Bellevue, NE- The men's basketball team won a thrilling game against the Bellevue University Bruins.
In the first half, the Bruins took an early lead until a jumper made by senior Austin Payne put the Blue Hawks within two points of the Bruins (10-12). With seven minutes left to play before halftime, Melvin Collins hit a three pointer to give the Hawks a 21-19 lead. The Blue Hawks ended the half being down 27-33.
In the second half, the Bruins held a slight lead over the Blue Hawks until there was fourteen minutes left to play. A jump shot and three point shot made by Donte Walker put the Blue Hawks within one point of the Bruins, 43-44. With thirteen minutes left to play, Michael Vandall made a layup to give the Blue Hawks the 45-44 lead over BU. The Hawks held the lead until the Bruins tied up the game again 50-50. The Blue Hawks and Bruins would exchange points and lead changes for the next four minutes. With 32 seconds left to play, Kenny Jackson nailed a jump shot to give the Hawks a 62-59 lead, but on the next possession, the Bruins made a three point shot to tie the game. With one second left to play the Blue Hawks inbounded the ball to Kenny Jackson and Jackson made the shot to give the Blue Hawks the 64-62 victory.
As a team, the Blue Hawks shot 47.2% for field goals, 17.6% from the three point line, and 68.8% (11-16) from the free throw line. The Blue Hawks totaled sixteen assists. On defense, the Hawks out rebounded the Bruins totaling thirty-four rebounds, ten of which were offensive rebounds. DSU had six total steals during the game.
Individually, Michael Vandall led the way with twenty-one points. Next was teammates Melvin Collins with eleven points and Donte Walker with ten. Kenny Jackson added another seven points, and Travon Hamilton had five points. Travon Hamilton, Melvin Collins, Kenny Jackson, and Austin Payne all had three assists during the game.
On defense, Michael Vandall led the way with fifteen rebounds. Next was teammate Kenny Jackson with five rebounds. Both Austin Payne and Malcohm Hill had three rebounds. Melvin Collins had three steals during the game.
Madison, SD- The Blue Hawks fall to the Dakota State University Trojans 62-71.
As a team, the Blue Hawks shot 33.3% for field goals, 28.6% from the three point line, and 72.7% from the free throw line. The team totaled eleven assists. On defense, DiSU had a total of forty-five rebounds compared to DaSU's thirty-five. The Blue Hawks had four steals during the game.
Individually, leading the way for the Hawks was Melvin Collins and Michael Vandall each with nineteen points. Following them was teammate Travon Hamilton with nine points and Shawn Stoltz added an additional six points. Leading in assists was Melvin Collins with three. Both Travon Hamilton and Austin Payne had two assits during the game.
On defense, Melvin Collins had eleven rebounds, four of which were offensive rebounds. Following Collins was teammate Malcohm Hill with eight rebounds. Austin Payne had an additional six rebounds during the game. Travon Hamilton had two steals, and both Donte Walker and Michael Vandall had one steal.
Next on the schedule, the Blue Hawk men's basketball team will host the Waldorf University Warriors starting at 7:30pm MT at Scott Gymnasium on Friday, January 11th.
