Sioux City, Iowa — A buzzer-beating three by Jamestown meant heartbreak for the Briar Cliff men’s basketball team Wednesday night at the Newman Flanagan Center. The Chargers took a two-point lead with less than two seconds to play in the contest but gave up a Jamestown last-ditch shot as time expired to take a 72-71 loss.
Briar Cliff trailed 40-31 at the halftime break but used 17-8 run over the first seven minutes of the second half to claw back to a 48-all tie. Down 46-48, Ethan Freidel scored his first points of the contest from the free throw line to tie the contest.
Jamestown responded with six-straight points to go ahead 54-48 with 11:29 to play. The Chargers then scored seven-straight, capped off by a Connor Groves trey, to take a 55-54 lead with 9:26 on the clock.
Briar Cliff went ahead 69-64 with 2:10 to play but Jamestown scored five for the 69-69 tie with 29 seconds to play. Groves put the Cliff up 71-69 with one second remaining but the Jimmies managed an inbound and open three for the buzzer beating win.
Quinten Vasa had a strong night for the Chargers with a game-high 16 points to go with five rebounds and three assists. The junior scored BC’s first seven points. Quinn Vesey had seven rebounds and Jaden Kleinhesselink gave out five assists.
Marc Kjos, the Jimmie’s buzzer-beating hero, scored 15 points in the contest. Brady Birch had 11 rebounds. The Chargers held Mason Walters to just six points and four rebounds in the contest, well below his season averages of 22.8 points and 12.8 rebounds per game.
Overall, Briar Cliff edged Jamestown 20-9 in assists while the Jimmies had a 40-28 advantage in rebounds.
The Chargers slip to 11-12 on the season and 8-10 in conference play. BC will host Hastings at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Newman Flanagan Center.
