Some light outs shooting from Sophomore guards Conner Groves and Nick Hoyt helped the BC mens basketball team to an 89-75 victory over Concordia Saturday in the Newman Flanagan Center.
Hoyt and Groves scored the teams 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 havent 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 tonights 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, its 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.
A huge night on the boards for junior Madelyn Deitchler led the Briar Cliff womens basketball team to a 69-59 upset of #11 Concordia Saturday at the Newman Flanagan Center. Deitchler grabbed 18 rebounds on the afternoon, good for third best in a single game in program history, to go with 16 points.
“As a staff, we are very pleased with the response after last game,” said Charger assistant Jasmine Stohr. “Our players were dialed in and executed against a tough team. Whether the stat line shows it, every player contributed in a meaningful way to help us come out with a win. That said, we still have room to grow as individual players and as a team. We continue to be excited for the upcoming opportunities we will face in conference.”
After a 9-9 start to the contest, the BC women went on an 10-point run to finish the first quarter and into the second.
The Chargers held a 34-27 lead at halftime and pushed that margin to 47-27 in the first five minutes of the second half thanks to a 13-point run. Concordia wasnt going away without a fight, clawing back to within 10 in the fourth, but the Chargers were able to hold off the Bulldogs to move to 2-0 against ranked teams this season.
Konnor Sudmann put up 22 points for the Cliff, followed by Deitchlers 16, and Kennedy Benne chipped in 10. Sudmann gave out five assists and Benne had three steals.
22 of the Chargers points were scored in the paint while 29 came from the free throw line. Briar Cliff was just 67 percent on free throw shooting prior to Saturday but hit 29 of 33 attempts against the Bulldogs.
The Chargers held Bulldogs to just 23 percent shooting on 18-of-78 shooting in the game. Taylor Cockerill had 22 points and 12 boards for Concordia. Concordia went into Saturdays contest on a six-game win streak and takes its first conference loss of the year (6-4, 5-2 GPAC).
Saturdays win is the Chargers first over Concordia since the 2015-16 season. The Cliff moves to 7-1 on the year and 5-1 in conference play. The team will host #24 Morningside Wednesday at the Newman Flanagan Center.
