The Charger men’s basketball team won their fifth straight game Saturday behind a balanced offensive attack that saw six players score over eight points. BC downed Doane 66-58 to improve to 11-6 overall and 7-2 in GPAC play.
Neither team found an offensive rhythm to start the contest as the Chargers trailed 12-8 at the midway point of the first half. BC took their first lead of the night 14-12 off an Andrew Gibb layup with 7:39 left in the half. The Chargers took a nine point edge with three minutes remaining behind seven straight points from Jaden Kleinhesselink.
The Cliff did a majority of their damage inside the lane and from the free throw line in the first 20 minutes with 12 points in the paint and went 10-for-12 from the charity stripe. The Chargers held a 32-25 lead at the halftime break.
Briar Cliff never trailed in the second half, and the score was tied just once at 40-all with 12:40 left in the second half. A Nick Hoyt layup followed by a Quinn Vesey trey fueled an 8-0 BC run over the next four minutes. The Chargers traded baskets with the Tigers in the final seven minutes of action and converted 6-of-8 free throw attempts in the last 1:21 to close out the eight-point victory.
“Really happy with our guys finding a way to come away with the win today, in what I thought was a little bit of an ugly game offensively and defensively for us,” said head coach Mark Svagera. “Proud of our guys for finding a way to get defensive stops in the second half. Stilwill gave us a huge boost off the bench on offense tonight.”
BC outrebounded the Tigers 28-22, had more bench points 26-16 and committed less turnovers 8-11. The Chargers converted 21-of-26 attempts from the free throw line, compared to 4-for-6 from the charity stripe for the Tigers.
Matthew Stilwill scored 13 points, had seven rebounds, three assists and went 9-for-12 from the free throw line. Conner Groves added 10 points and Jaden Kleinhesselink had nine. Vesey, Hoyt and Kyle Boerhave chipped in eight points apiece. Quinten Vasa had a game high eight rebounds.
Josiah Gardiner scored a game high 18 points on 8-for-10 shooting. Braddy Timm added 10 points and Anthony Laravie scored seven.
The Chargers will look for their fifth road GPAC win Wednesday in Jamestown, North Dakota when they face the #12 Jimmies. Tip-off is set for 7:45 p.m.
