Briar Cliff men’s basketball took the #3 team in the NAIA to the final moments of Saturday’s contest but fell just short 85-82 at William Penn.
Seven straight points from Conner Groves gave the Cliff an early 14-9 lead five minutes into the game. A 9-0 Statesmen run gave them a 21-16 edge, but five straight points from Matthew Stilwill brought the contest to 21-all. William Penn held a 39-34 lead after 20 minutes. The opening half saw seven lead changes and the score tied four times, while neither team lead by more than five points.
Conner Groves paced the Cliff in the first half with 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting with two treys. BC scored 12 points off seven William Penn turnovers.
The Statesmen extended their lead to nine in the first minute of the second half. Groves answered with back-to-back treys, followed by a Jaden Kleinhesselink 3-pointer to tie the game at 43-43. William Penn took their largest lead of the game 67-53 at the nine-minute mark.
With under five minutes remaining, the Chargers started to claw back into the contest. Quinn Vesey found Quinten Vasa in the paint for a bucket, and a steal and transition 3-pointer from Kleinhesselink cut the William Penn lead to 76-71.
Trailing by four with 1:44 remaining, Vesey took a charge on William Penn and on the ensuing BC possession Vasa sunk a trey to cut the lead to one. Vesey gave the Cliff their first lead since 3:46 left in the first half, with a layup, as BC lead 81-80 with 33 seconds remaining.
William Penn made two free throws taking an 82-81 lead, and with seven seconds left Stilwill split a pair of free throws to tie the game at 82-all. Karmari Newman nailed a step back 3-pointer with one second on the clock, and the Chargers last second half-court shot was no good as their upset bid fell short.
Kleinhesselink dropped a game high 23 points on 8-for-12 shooting and went 6-for-7 from deep. He also tied for a team high six rebounds. Kleinhesselink scored 18 of his points in the second half, knocking down 5-of-5 attempts from the 3-point line.
Groves added 22 points with four treys and five rebounds. Vasa had 12 points, four assists and three boards. Boerhave and Stilwill chipped in eight points apiece.
BC shot 44.4% from the floor, 34.4% from deep and 53.8% from the free throw line. William Penn finished 44.6% from the field, 31.3% on 3-point attempts and 78.6% from the free throw line. William Penn went to the free throw line 28 times, compared to just 13 attempts for the Chargers.
BC had an edge in points off turnovers 20-5 and points in the paint 40-36. William Penn’s bench outscored BC’s 13-10 and they held the advantage in second chance points 10-2. Newman scored 21 points and had four assists for the Statesmen. Cruesoe added 20 points, seven rebounds and four assists.
The Chargers drop to 4-4 on the season and are 2-0 in GPAC play. BC returns to the Newman Flanagan Center Tuesday at 7:45 hosting Dordt.
