POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. --- Try as it might, University of St. Francis could not derail Bellevue University (Neb.) from claiming its ninth straight victory Tuesday night as the Bruins earned a 72-62 decision in second-round action of the College of the Ozarks (Mo.) McDonald's Cam Jam Tournament.

Like it did one night earlier against defending NAIA II national runner-up Ozarks, the Saints (4-13) fought the 2008 NAIA II second-place Bruins for 40 minutes. USF claimed its only lead of the night, 28-27, with 3:52 remaining in the first half before Bellevue ran off 11 of the final 14 points of the half to take a 38-31 lead into the break.

The Bruins (12-6) extended the advantage as high as 18 points twice in the second half despite shooting only 38.5 percent (10-of-26) after the break after converting 13-of-22 attempts (59.1 percent) in the first half. The second time came with 5:08 remaining in the contest.

But rather than call it a night, the Saints mounted one final serious threat working the deficit down to 7 points with 1:34 to play on a Lukas Zebrauskas (Stagg H.S./Palos Heights, IL) jumper. USF then had the chance to make it a five-point game a short time later, but the Saints turned the ball over one last time - their 19th of the game - to seal their fate.

In the end, St. Francis could not overcome a quartet of double-figure scorers for Bellevue highlighted by Avery Tyler's game-high 18 points and Antoine Dade's 16 points and 7 rebounds.

USF's two highest scorers could not match either of those figures with sophomore center Bruce Watson (Schoolcraft College (MI)/Detroit, MI) coming off the bench to net all 12 of his points in the second half, where he was 6-for-6 from the field. Zebrauskas, the lone Saint starter to score more than 6 points, totaled 10, to go along with a team-high 8 rebounds.

"You can't be displeased with the way the guys played today, especially coming back after getting down by 18 points," said USF head coach Pat Sullivan. "But to win a game like this against a team like Bellevue, you have to get an "A" game out of everyone and we just didn't get that."

The Saints take Wednesday off before meeting NAIA No. 18-ranked Georgetown College (Ky.) on its home court in a Thursday afternoon matinee beginning at 2 p.m.