After taking a lead into the halftime break, the Chargers mens basketball team struggled to get into a rhythm in the second half falling 57-74 to Jamestown Tuesday night.
A 3-pointer by Jaden Kleinhesselink in the first possession got the BC offense going early, starting the game on an 8-2 run. The Jimmies battled back tying the score at 13-13, after a Mason Walters basket. Ethan Freidel responded for BC, scoring eight straights points to take a 21-13 lead with 12:08 remaining. Quinten Vasa grabbed an offensive rebound with 12 seconds left in the half and finished at the rim to give BC a 35-34 heading to the locker rooms.
The Chargers kept it close to start the second half, trailing 40-42 with 15:13 left in the contest. The Jimmies took a 55-42 lead with 10:34 remaining, after a 13-2 run. Jamestown held a double-digit lead for the final 10 minutes in route to a 74-58 victory.
“The start of the second half doomed us once again tonight,” said head coach Mark Svagera. “We did not execute at the level it takes to win on the road in the GPAC.”
Freidel and Vasa tied for the team high with 11 points apiece. Freidel was 4-of-5 from the floor and knocked down three 3-pointers. Kleinhesselink added seven points and dished out four assists.
BC shot 46 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from behind the arc but went cold in the second half shooting 37.5 percent from the floor and 33.3 percent from the 3-point line. The Chargers held the advantage in bench points 25-8, but the Jimmies outscored the Cliff in the paint 40-24.
“We will continue striving for consistency as we move forward,” said Svagera.
GPAC Player-of-the-Week Mason Walter led Jamestown with 33 points and 12 rebounds. Walters finished 14-15 from the floor and 5-6 from the charity stripe. Allante Pickens scored all 16 of his points in the first half and had three assists.
Briar Cliff is now 5-7 overall and 3-5 in GPAC play. BC travels to Crete, Nebraska Saturday for a 4 p.m. matchup with the Doane Tigers.
An 18-2 run by Jamestown over the final six minutes of Tuesdays contest resulted in the Briar Cliff womens basketball teams third loss of the 2020-21 season. The Chargers fell 78-62 in Jamestown behind 27 percent field goal shooting and a 13 percent effort from the 3-point line.
“We struggled to put the ball in the hoop tonight,” said head coach Brita Hand. “We had some great looks but we couldnt translate it to points on the board. We knew they shot the three well and just didnt execute in finding their shooters and contesting the shots. We have to get back to defending for 40 minutes and letting our defense create the offense!”
After scoring the first two points of the contest, the Charger gave up 11-straight to trail 11-2 with 4:22 to play. BC worked its way back to trail 16-10 after one period. Macy Savela his all four of her threes for the Jimmies in the second quarter to help the home team to a 36-26 halftime lead.
BC pulled back to within four with six minutes to play and forced a Jamestown timeout, but the Jimmies went on their 18-2 run out of the timeout for the win.
Jamestowns Hannah DeMars led all players with 23 points. She was followed by BCs Konnor Sudmann with 20 points. Payton Slaughter recorded her second double-double of the year with 12 points and 10 boards.
The sides gave up eight steals each but the Jimmies outscored the Chargers 22-15 in points off turnovers. BC did score more second-chance points (12-6) thanks to a 20-4 advantage in offensive rebounds.
Briar Cliff moves to 8-3 on the season and 6-3 against conference opponents. The Chargers will look to bounce back Saturday as the team travels to Doane for a 2 p.m. contest in Crete, Nebraska.
