The Charger men’s basketball team opened GPAC play with a 65-53 loss to Dakota Wesleyan Wednesday night at the Corn Palace. Cold shooting from both sides made for a low-scoring contest but the Tigers were able to get the better of the Blue and Gold for the win.
Both sides struggled offensively in the first half with the Tigers leading just 27-18 after 20 minutes. The Cliff shot just under 31 percent from the field in that time and went 0-for-12 from the 3-point line.
Briar Cliff started the second half with a 17-5 run to trail 36-32 with 14:48 to play. That would be as close as the Chargers would come, however, as Dakota Wesleyan pushed its lead to as many as 13 over the next few minutes and held on for the win.
Ethan Freidel went 5-for-5 from the free throw line in the final three minutes but it was not enough for the Cliff.
“We really battled on the defensive end once again tonight,” said head coach Mark Svagera. “Our guys fought for 40 minutes to get stops. We’ll continue to work to improve our offensive consistency.”
Jaden Kleinhesselink and Freidel did their part for BC, scoring 22 and 16 points, respectively. Quinn Vesey had a team-high seven boards and Quinten Vasa gave out three assists.
Dakota Wesleyan had four players in double figures, led by Mason Larson’s 15 points.
Overall, BC shot 34 percent from the field and managed three treys in the second half for just 12 percent success from beyond the arc.
The Chargers (2-3, 0-1 GPAC) will look to even out their record with a conference contest at Mount Marty Saturday.
