The #22 Briar Cliff men’s basketball team rallied back from being down 14 points in the second half to RV Concordia but fell 74-73 on a last second shot. The Chargers drop to 19-9 and 15-4 in GPAC play but have already secured a share of the GPAC Regular Season Title.
“Obviously a disappointing way to lose tonight, but i have to give a ton of credit to our guys for battling back on the road and giving ourselves a chance to win,” said head coach Mark Svagera. “That was an unbelievable game with an unbelievable finish, and it was a great basketball game between 2 great teams. We’ll bounce back and be ready to go Friday”
Both teams started quick on the offensive end, as the Bulldogs led 14-12 just over five minutes in. The Chargers knocked down four of their first five 3-point attempts, with two coming from Conner Groves. Concordia held a two-to-four point lead for the majority of the first half, with the score tying six times. BC scored 12 straight points in the paint to close the half, but a pair of free throws from AJ Watson gave the Bulldogs a 42-39 lead after 20 minutes.
Groves opened the scoring for the Cliff in the second half with his fourth 3-pointer, but BC would only score two points over the next four minutes. A Justin Wiersema trey gave Concordia their first double-digit lead of the game, 58-48 with 13:11 to play.
Trailing 68-54 with 8:15 remaining, the Chargers went on a 16-2 run over the next seven minutes to tie the game at 70-70 with 1:22 left. With eight seconds remaining, Carter Kent knocked down a jumper to take a two-point Bulldog lead. On the ensuing BC possession, Jaden Kleinhesselink hit a double-clutch 3-point attempt to regain the lead with just one second on the clock. From under the basket, the Bulldogs inbound pass went the length of the floor and found Tristan Smith who scored as time expired.
Quinten Vasa scored 16 points with four 3-pointers, grabbed seven rebounds, and had two big blocks towards the end of regulation. Vesey had 15 points and knocked down three treys, while Groves had 15 points on four 3-pointers. Kleinhesselink added 11 points, six assists and four rebounds.
BC shot 50.9% from the field and went 12-for-23 from deep, compared to 50.0% shooting for Concordia and 7-for-21 from beyond the arc.
Gage Smith recorded a 23 point, 17 rebound double-double to lead the Bulldogs on 9-for-12 shooting. Kent scored 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting. Wiersema and Watson added 11 and 10 points, respectively.
The Chargers head to Crete, Nebraska Friday night for their regular season finale against Doane with tip-off set for 7:45 p.m.
