The #22 Briar Cliff men’s basketball team has clinched a share of the GPAC Regular Season Championship with a 78-64 Senior Day win over RV Jamestown. BC improves to 19-8 (15-3 GPAC) and have secured their first regular season title since the 2016-17 season.
“I’m incredibly proud of and really happy for our guys. To win a share of the conference, at home and on senior night is a pretty awesome experience that doesn’t happen very often,” said head coach Mark Svagera. “Our guys have been really tough and together all year and they epitomize a team. It has been really fun to watch them continue to grow and get better, which has been awesome for us as a team and a program.”
The Chargers were led by GPAC Player of the Week, Quinn Vesey, who scored a game high 19 points on 8-for-14 shooting, along with five rebounds and three assists. The senior trio of Quinten Vasa, Jaden Kleinhesselink and Kyle Boerhave combined for 51 points, 19 rebounds and shot 51.6% from the field.
The first half saw plenty of offense, as the Chargers held a 47-41 lead at the break. BC shot 60.6% from the floor, while Jamestown was 51.7% from the field. The score tied nine times and the lead changed hands eight times.
BC trailed 14-12 just over five minutes into the contest but took a 23-22 edge after Vasa connected on three 3-pointers in a two-minute span. BC took a 47-39 lead after a 7-0 run, capped off by a Kleinhesselink 3-pointer. Conner Groves grabbed the rebound after a missed Jimmie 3-pointer, and with just two seconds left in the first half, found Boerhave cutting down the lane for a dunk to close out the first 20 minutes of action.
“You look at the game specifically, in the first half you got your money’s worth,” said Svagera. “That was a slugfest of two really good teams, just throwing haymakers at each other. The second half we were able to get some stops, which allowed us to extend the lead and ultimately put the game away.”
The Chargers took a 12-point lead, 56-44 five minutes into the second half after six straight Charger points. The Jimmies cut the deficit to three, 62-59 at the 10-minute mark. Over the next four minutes, the Chargers outscored the Jimmies 9-0, taking a 71-59 lead. Over the run, BC held the Jimmies to 0-for-5 shooting and forced three turnovers. With 4:25 remaining in the game, the Chargers iced the win with an 8-0 run to push their lead to 18 points.
Vasa scored 18 points with five boards and four assists. Kleinhesselinnk added 14 points on 6-for-9 shooting. Boerhave notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
“Proud of the way the guys fought tonight, we talked before the game about fighting for every possession on both sides of the ball and our guys did that tonight,” said Svagera. “We’re going to be really happy about this, it deserves to be celebrated, but at the same time on Monday we are going to come back ready to work.”
The Chargers shot 53.6% from the field and 47.6% from the 3-point line, compared to 42.4% shooting and 32.3% from the floor for the Jimmies. BC scored more points in the paint 38-18 and had more points off turnovers 18-11.
With the win, the Chargers earned their 10th victory in the Newman Flanagan Center and have now won over 10 games in the NFC for the 27th time in program history.
Jamestown was led by Mason Walter’s 17 points and seven rebounds. Will Cordes added 14 points and five assists. Cole Woodford and Marc Kjos added 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Briar Cliff heads to Seward, Nebraska next Wednesday for a meeting with the GPAC’s second place team RV Concordia. Tip-off is set for 7:45 p.m. between the Chargers and Bulldogs.
