The Briar Cliff mens basketball team jumped out to an 8-0 lead on the road Saturday, but the Chargers lead evaporated quickly as Hastings College ended up with a 96-88 win in Hastings, Neb.
The Blue and Gold took less than two minutes to gain the eight point advantage but the Broncos evened the score at 16 by the 12:25 mark in the first half. By the time the teams headed to the locker room for the midway point of the contest, Hastings had gone ahead by double digits, 45-35.
The home squad kept things rolling to start the second half and went up by as many as 26 at the midway point of the second half. A late barrage of 3-pointers by the Cliff kept things interesting, but the Broncos iced the game away at the free throw line. Hastings collected 13 points from the charity stripe in the second half, going 18-for-27 from the line in the game.
Jackson Lamb was instrumental to the quick start for the Chargers as he had a block on the teams first defensive possession and hit his first three shots of the game. Six minutes into the contest, Lamb had nine points to match the Bronco total. Hastings buckled down defensively on the Charger leader from that point on as he finished with a team-high 17 points.
Austin Roetman and Ethan Freidel were next on the Cliff scoring chart with 12 points each. Jaden Kleinhesselink added 11 points while leading the Chargers in rebounds and assists with nine and four, respectively. Seven other Chargers contributed at least four points as Nick Hoyt, Wil Johnson and Conner Groves all had six. Jake Carley and Tony Bonner each finished with five points while Quinn Vesey and Codey Hicks both tallied four.
Five Broncos finished in double figures with Mason Hiemstra leading the victors with 21 points to go along with five assists and three steals. Shane Chamberlain also matched Hiemstra in points at 21 on 5-of-7 shooting from 3-point range. The Broncos were on fire from deep as they hit 14-of-27 threes. Hastings connected on 32-of-55 shots overall for 58%. Briar Cliff finished the game 48% from the field, but first half struggles made things difficult as the Blue and Gold hit 12-of-32 shots in the opening stanza for 38%.
The win improves Hastings to 13-10 on the season with a 6-7 mark in the GPAC. Briar Cliff dropped below .500 on the year for the first time as the Chargers now sit at 11-12 with a league record of 2-11. The Cliff wraps up the road portion of the schedule on Wednesday with a trip to Yankton, S.D. to take on #17 Mount Marty.
After picking up a road victory against a ranked opponent earlier in the week, the Charger womens basketball team was unable to repeat that feat against #2 Hastings. The home Broncos came away with a 78-54 win Saturday in Hastings, Neb.
Briar Cliff struggled to get any offense going and didnt connect on a single field goal in the second quarter. A 17-1 edge in the frame helped Hastings gain a comfortable advantage en route to the victory.
The Blue and Gold competed well early as the first quarter saw five lead changes. A couple of early baskets from Konnor Sudmann gave BC leads, but the Chargers never went up by more than one possession. A 12-0 run late in the opening quarter gave Hastings some momentum that carried over to the dominating second. Briar Cliff did put up the final five points of the first, but didnt add to its total until a Sudman free throw with 2:58 until half that ended up being the only tally for the Cliff in the stanza.
The Chargers connected on the first two buckets of the second half as they outscored the Broncos in the third quarter, but the undefeated home squad was able to fend off a comeback threat by the Blue and Gold.
Briar Cliff was led by Madelyn Deitchler with 13 points in the loss. Deitchlers seven rebounds and four assists also led BC. Alyssa Carley was the only other player for the Chargers to reach double figures as she added 10 to the cause. Payton Slaughter finished with nine points, Sudmann totaled eight and Taylor Lambrecht chippedin with seven points off the bench. Jadyn Bussinger had BCs only block on defense while adding four points.
Taylor Beacom didnt start for Hastings but was incredibly effective with a game-high 19 points. Dawson Knode also was a team leader coming off the bench as she hauled in seven rebounds to go along with eight points. The Broncos outrebounded BC 31-25 and forced 25 turnovers while only losing possession 11 times in the game.
Hastings improved to 22-0 with a 14-0 GPAC record with the win. Briar Cliff is now 6-16 on the year with a 3-11 league mark. The Chargers travel to Yankton, S.D. on Wednesday to face Mount Marty. Tipoff against the Lancers is set for 6 p.m.
