A balanced offensive attack helped lift the Charger men’s basketball team past Mount Marty Saturday 88-79. Briar Cliff moves to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the GPAC.
“I am really happy with our guys effort this afternoon to win on the road in conference is always hard,” said head coach Mark Svagera. “I thought we played with a lot of toughness, especially after a slow offensive start.”
It was a slow start for both teams, with Mount Marty leading 15-10 at the midway point of the first half. A Keegan Savary and-one gave the Lancers their largest lead of the half, 21-12 with 9:15 left. The Chargers responded with a 10-1 run, and took their first lead of the night (22-21) after a 3-pointer by Nick Hoyt. BC would catch fire from the 3-point line in the final five minutes, knocking down six straight 3-point shots to take a 13-point lead (46-33) into the break.
Briar Cliff held a double-digit lead for the majority of the second half, with Mount Marty making a late push cutting the Charger lead to six points with 1:43 left. BC was able to hold off Mount Marty converting on five-of-six free throws in the final minute.
Six players for the Cliff reached double-digits in scoring with Freidel leading the way with 20 points and six rebounds. Conner Groves was productive off the bench for the Blue and Gold scoring 17 points and knocking down five-of-seven 3-pointers. Nick Hoyt put up 15 points and Jaden Kleinhesselink added 11 points and dished out four assists. Quinn Vesey and Quinten Vasa scored ten points a piece and were the team’s leading rebounders with nine and eight, respectively.
“I think it was a really good sign that we had some balanced scoring today,” said Svagera. “We got a lot of production from our bench today, and was a great team effort to get a road win in the GPAC.”
The Chargers shot 51 percent from the field and 43 percent from 3-point range, compared to 40 percent from the field and 24 percent from beyond the arc for Mount Marty.
BC is off until November 24 when the team travels to Sioux Center, IA to face off with the Dordt Defenders in GPAC action.
