The Briar Cliff men’s basketball team picked up its fourth win in the GPAC Saturday over Doane, 81-65 in Crete, Nebraska. BC is now 6-7 on the season and 4-5 in conference play.
The Tigers were on the board first with a 3-pointer from Joe Burt, but Quinn Vesey answered with a 3-ball of his own. BC was on fire from behind the 3-point line to start, connecting on five straight treys to take a 15-5 lead at the 15-minute mark.
The Cliff extended their lead to 24 with 8:34 left in the first half, 33-9 after Conner Groves fourth 3-pointer. Groves scored all 14 of his points in the opening 12 minutes, connecting on 4-of-4 3-points attempts. BC and Doane traded baskets over the final eight minutes, with the Chargers taking a 44-20 lead into the halftime break.
In the first 20 minutes, Briar Cliff shot 16-of-30 (53.3%) from the field and 8-of-18 (44.4%) from the 3-point line with nine assists.
BC struck first in the second half, knocking down a 3-point basket to give the Chargers their largest lead of the night 47-20. The Tigers were unable to rally a comeback, as the Cliff’s lead never dropped below 16 points.
Vasa put up 21 points, on 8-of-10 shooting and 2-of-3 from behind the arc, seven rebounds, and six assists. Groves scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds. Nick Hoyt (12) and Jaden Kleinhesselink (10) were the other Chargers in double-figures. Kleinhesselink grabbed seven boards and dished out three assists.
The Charger defense was able to limit Doane to just 35.8 percent from the floor and 21.9 percent from the 3-point line, compared to 50.9 percent from the field and 41.4 percent on 3-point attempt for BC.
Anthony Laravie had a game-high 25 points and five rebounds to lead the Tigers. Jaxon Harre was the only other player in double-digits for Doane with 13 points.
Briar Cliff is back in action Monday in Madison, South Dakota facing off against Dakota State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
