Despite never leading in the second half of a nonconference contest at Dakota State Monday night, the Briar Cliff men’s basketball team squeaked out a 79-75 overtime win over the Trojans to move to 7-7 on the season.
Dakota State led by as many as nine points second half of action and held a 61-54 advantage with less than 1:30 to play. The Chargers forced overtime with a 9-2 run to finish regulation and outscored DSU 16-12 in overtime for the win.
Jaden Kleinhesselink drove in a layup with 21 seconds on the clock and the Cliff trailed by just two. Connor Groves forced a steal-and-score after the inbound pass to tie things up at 63-all and eight seconds to play. Kleinhesselink forced another turnover on the Trojans final possession of the second half but couldn’t get a shot up before the buzzer.
BC edged Dakota State in overtime behind five points from Kleinhesselink and four from Quinten Vasa.
Vasa has another strong showing for the Chargers. The reigning Briar Cliff Athlete of the Week put up 19 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists in his 43 minutes on the floor. Four other Chargers chipped in double figures with 16 from Groves, 11 from Ethan Freidel and 10 apiece from Kleinhesselink and Nick Hoyt.
Quinn Vesey corralled a team-high eight boards and Kleinhesselink matched Vasa’s five assists. The Chargers hit 49 percent of its attempts from the field and 36 percent from the 3-point line, compared to 51 percent from the field for the Trojans and 43 percent success from three.
Josh McGreal had 22 points for Dakota State.
The Chargers will be off for 11 days before getting back into GPAC play January 2. Briar Cliff will host Mount Marty at 4 p.m.
