The Bellevue Eagles won their senior night on Tuesday against Gold-Burg to keep their playoff hopes alive.
The Eagles won 62-49 in a game they controlled for all but a furious run in the third quarter from the Bears.
Gold-Burg came into the game with a one game lead on Bellevue in the standings. Both teams are gunning for fourth place and the final playoff spot in district, which would break a drought for either program.
The Bears won the first game between the teams back in mid-January 64-55, but knew it would be different with the Eagles being at home and emotional on senior night.
Bellevue seemed to pass around and through Gold-Burg’s 3-2 zone defense when everything was clicking, cutting to the basket for clean layups or crashing the offensive glass to get second and third looks at baskets.
The Bears were able to get by the Eagles man-to-man defense initially, but long arms from help defenders in the post meant tough contests at the basket were hard to convert for Gold-Burg consistently.
Passing it out for 3-point shots were hot and cold all game for the Bears offensively.
At halftime, Bellevue led 32-18.
The Bears turned up the pressure and started to employ a full-court press.
This upped pace and while the Eagles offense still scored in the double-digits, it really favored a Gold-Burg team that caught fire to get back into the game.
Down as much as 17 points midway through the third quarter, the Bears went on a 17-5 run to close the period. Bellevue’s lead was trimmed down to five points, leading 45-40 heading to the fourth quarter.
Gold-Burg ran out of steam as the Eagles reset to get back on track in the final period.
Taking advantage of the open corner 3-pointers Bellevue was able to generate for its best shooter Ryan Jones while limiting turnovers, the Eagles were able to comfortably get a big lead again.
The Bears offensive explosion had died down as Bellevue’s lead grew to double-digits again and time wound down.
The Eagles won 62-49.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.