Rocky men outlast Bellevue in KC

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Royce Robinson scored 24 points, including a layup that forced overtime, and Rocky Mountain College used an 11-0 run in the extra period to beat Bellevue, Neb., 78-73 at the NAIA Men’s Basketball Tournament Friday night.

Rocky (31-3) beat its Frontier Conference foe for the third time this season, this time in the NAIA’s Round of 16 at Municipal Auditorium. Robinson tied the game at 63-all with his bucket with 5.7 seconds left in regulation; down 66-63 in overtime, the Battlin’ Bears pulled ahead for good, 67-66, on a Carter McCoy layup at 3:08 of OT.  

McCoy converted a dunk into a three-point play and a 72-66 lead with 1:38 left; Robinson’s two free throws made it 74-66 with 51 seconds left.  

After Bellevue closed the gap to 74-71, Mehi Jourdan and Robinson each made two free throws in the final 15 seconds. 

McCoy had 19 points and 10 rebounds for Rocky, which faces Langston, Okla. (27-7) in a quarterfinal game Saturday night. Robinson, out of Lewistown, had seven rebounds. Omari Nesbit had 16 points, four during the critical overtime surge, and five boards. Jacob Bilodeau had nine points and nine boards for Rocky. 

Jermaine Haliburton led Bellevue with 21 points. RJ Smith added 156 points and 11 rebounds for the Bruins (24-8).