The Briar Cliff men’s basketball team picked up a 90-85 victory over Midland Saturday in the Newman Flanagan Center. The Chargers improve to 11-8 on the season and 8-6 in conference play. The Cliff was led by Jaden Kleinhesselink’s 19 points and Quinn Vesey’s 17 points.
The Chargers were hot from the 3-point line in the first half, knocking down five treys in first nine minutes of action. Vesey’s third 3-pointer of the half gave the Chargers a 15-13 lead with 11:27 left. BC trailed 35-40 with 3:26 remaining, before an Ethan Freidel led, 10-2 run gave the Chargers a 45-42 lead. Freidel scored eight of his 13 first half points during the run, knocking down two treys, and making a pair of free throws.
Vesey was the main contributor for the Cliff in the opening half, scoring 14 points while knocking down 4-of-4 attempts from the 3-point line. Laurence Merritt came off the Midland bench to score 17 points.
Midland opened the second half with an 8-2 run to take a 52-47 lead. The Chargers kept the score close but was unable to retake the advantage until a Vesey 3-pointer with 11:46 remaining. Merritt put the Warriors back up on the following possession with a 2-point basket.
The lead changed for the final time at the 4:43 mark, as a Jaden Kleinhesselink free throw put the Cliff up 74-73. Kleinhesselink took over in the final four minutes, scoring 12 of BC’s final 16 points in route to the 90-85 win.
Kleinhesselink had a team high 19 points, followed by Vesey’s 17 points. Vasa scored 14 points, grabbed seven rebounds, and dished out four assists. Freidel added 13 points and Nick Hoyt added 11 points.
Briar Cliff, the NAIA leader in 3-point field goals made, knocked down 13-of-30 attempts from deep tonight. It was the twelfth time the Chargers have connected on double-digit 3-pointers this season and the fifth game in a row.
BC held the advantage in points in the paint (30-28), points off turnovers (15-7), and committed less turnovers (7-13). Midland held the edge in bench points (31-24), and second chance points (8-2).
Merritt and Bo Sandquist scored 19 a piece for the Warriors. Josh Lambert added seven points and had seven rebounds. Emanuel Bryson also hit double-figure scoring with 14 points.
The Chargers will travel to Orange City, Iowa Wednesday to take on Northwestern in GPAC action. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. in the Bultman Center.
