The Briar Cliff men’s basketball team used a big first half to cruise to a 90-59 win over Waldorf Wednesday night in the Newman Flanagan Center. The Chargers held a 25-point advantage at halftime behind eight 3-pointers on 66.7% shooting.
Waldorf struck first with a trey from Chett Helming, but BC quickly took the lead with a 9-0 run and would hold the lead the rest of the way. The trio of Kyle Boerhave, Conner Groves and Quinn Vesey would combine to score the first 24 Charger points of the game and totaled 38 points at halftime.
A pair of free throws from Jaden Kleinhesselink, followed by six straight points from Vesey, fueled a 15-2 Charger run as they took a 45-21 lead with a 1:33 left in the half. Vesey scored nine of his 13 first half points during the run. Boerhave scored 13 points in the first half and Groves added 12 on 4-for-4 shooting from beyond the arc. BC held a 48-23 edge at the halftime break.
The Chargers cruised in the second half, holding a double-digit lead throughout. The Charger bench was responsible for 33 of the Cliff’s 42 second half points. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Jamison Helmers gave BC their largest lead of the night 88-57 as the Cliff took a 31-point win.
Boerhave and Groves finished with 15 points apiece while Vesey had 13. Groves went a perfect 5-for-5 from deep. Andrew Gibb and Tyrus Eischeid added eight and seven points off the bench, respectively. Quinten Vasa grabbed nine boards.
BC held the edge in points in the paint 36-22, bench points 39-12 and rebounding 28-27.
The Warriors were led by Tyree’on Johnson and Lorenzo Smith’s 12 points. Johnson grabbed seven boards and went 6-for-7 from the field. Quincy Minor Jr. added 11 points.
The Blue and Gold improve to 8-6 (4-2 GPAC) and will hit the road Saturday to face off against Hastings in conference play. Tip-off is set for 3:45.
