Bellevue College men’s basketball’s hot shooting was not enough as Chemeketa (OR) matched the Bulldogs and took control offensively in the second half to squeak by Bellevue 91-88 last night in opening-round play at the North Idaho Crossover Tourney in Couer d’ Alene, ID.
The Bulldogs played one of their best halves of the season after leading Chemeketa 48-42 at halftime. The ‘dogs shot 57% and had 18 rebounds in addition to an offense that showed several weapons in addition to their freshman scoring machine Trevon Richmond, who was on fire himself draining 7-of-9 from the field for 16 points before intermission. Trey Lawrence was near flawless with 100% efficiency shooting from both the field and free throw line. Gunter Nzapangolombi came off the bench and in only five minutes of playing time, nabbed 4 rebounds to prevent Chemeketa from rallying late.
In the second half, Chemeketa took advantage of 10 offensive rebounds to control the game offensively with second attempts. While the Bulldogs remained relatively hot with their shooting touch in the second half, the Storm had a distinct advantage in shot attempts (42-24) to give them the comeback opportunity. The late charge by Chemeketa all came after BC at one point had a 16-point lead after a 12-footer from Lawrence with 12:59 to go.
A six-point swing with a little over 5:00 to go brought Chemeketa right back into the game down by only four at 81-77. With one-point lead at 87-86, Chemeketa came through in the clutch at the free throw line going a perfect 4-for-4 in the final minute to seal the win.
Bellevue is now 1-8 and plays tourney host North Idaho tonight at 7:30 p.m.
Last Updated December 14, 2019
