Briar Cliff men’s basketball fell behind early and was unable to mount a comeback as they dropped a 58-81 matchup with Concordia Saturday. The loss moves BC to 11-10 overall and 8-8 in the GPAC.
The Charger offense was cold to start, scoring just four points in the opening six minutes trailing 17-4. BC began to chip away with 9:48 remaining in the first half, going on an 11-2 run to cut the Bulldog lead to four points.
Over the next four minutes, the two teams would trade baskets with Concordia holding onto a single digit lead. Seven straight Bulldog points with 1:13 left pushed their lead to 14 points. A pair of free throws by Jaden Kleinhesselink followed by a Freidel trey cut the deficit to nine points, but a Jackson Hirschfeld 3-pointer as time expired gave Concordia a 44-32 at halftime.
Neither team jumped out of the gates in the first five minutes of the second half, as Concordia outscored Briar Cliff 11-10 over the stretch. The Bulldogs began to open up their lead at the 14-minute mark, thanks to a 15-3 run over the next six minutes. Concordia cruised over the final eight minutes, holding a double-digit lead throughout.
Ethan Freidel scored 12 points for the Cliff in his 20 minutes off the bench, knocking down four 3-pointers. Kleinhesselink added 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Andrew Gibb chipped in nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
After six straight games of hitting over 10 treys, the Chargers went cold Saturday connecting on just 6-of-29 attempts from behind the 3-point line. BC was efficient from the free throw line converting 10-of-11 attempts. The Charger bench outscored the Bulldog bench 28-23 and BC committed less turnovers 6-10.
Carter Kent led the Bulldog attack with 24 points on 9-for-14 from the field, including six 3-pointers, and grabbed seven rebounds. Gage Smith tallied a double-double with 17 points and 10 boards.
Concordia hit on 55 percent of their shot attempts and 42 percent from the 3-point line. The Bulldogs also held an edge in points in the paint (44-24) and outrebounded BC (39-20).
Briar Cliff will finish out the regular season with a four-game home stand, starting Wednesday as Dakota Wesleyan visits the Newman Flanagan Center for an 8 p.m. tip-off.
