Some light outs shooting from Sophomore guards Conner Groves and Nick Hoyt helped the BC men’s basketball team to an 89-75 victory over Concordia Saturday in the Newman Flanagan Center.
Hoyt and Groves scored the team’s first nine points, connecting on three 3-pointers early. Concordia took a seven-point lead, 16-9 with 14 minutes remaining in the first half after a 6-0 run. BC responded with a 8-0 run of their own, and took the lead back 17-16 after a Hoyt 3-pointer. The Bulldogs took a 39-38 lead to the locker rooms.
Hoyt led the Cliff in the first 20 minutes, with 18 points on 6-7 shooting from behind the 3-point line.
Groves got the BC offense going early in the second half, scoring 11 points in the first five minutes. The Chargers went on a 16-2 run in that time and took a 54-41 lead with 15 minutes to play. Groves hit another trey ball, followed by a Concordia turnover and a Jaden Kleinhesselink layup pushed the BC lead to 19 with 11 minutes left. The Cliff maintained a double-digit lead throughout the final 10 minutes in route to the 89-75 win.
“Really proud of the guys effort tonight,” said head coach Mark Svagera. “I thought we had a complete 40-minute effort today, and that is something we haven’t had consistently this year.”
Conner Groves had a game-high 23 points, 17 in the second half, and connected on 7-of-11 3-pointers. Hoyt added 22 points on 6-of-8 shooting from behind the 3-point line and 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Kleinhesselink added 19 points and Quinn Vesey scored 11 points. Vasa chipped in nine points, seven assists, and five boards.
“The balance we had on offense, getting a lot of contributions from multiple guys makes us better,” noted Svagera.
The Chargers outshot the Bulldogs, hitting on 21-of-62 from the field, 18-of-36 from deep, and 9-of-11 free throws. Concordia made 29-of-59 from the floor, 10-of-30 from the 3-point line, and 7-of-10 on free throws.
BC only turned the ball over eight times, compared to 23 turnovers from the Bulldogs. The Chargers made the most out of the extra possessions, scoring 43 points off turnovers.
Concordia came into tonight’s contest with a 12 game GPAC win streak, dating back to last season. Carter Kent led the Bulldogs with 15 points and eight rebounds. Gage Smith (14), Justin Wiersema (11), and Jackson Hirschfeld (10) also scored in double-figures.
“We have had really good practices this last week,” said Svagera. “For the guys to see the correlation between practices and then performance on the floor, it’s going to be a really positive thing for us going forward.
The Chargers host cross-town rival #7 Morningside Wednesday night in the Newman Flanagan Center.
