Needing a win to stay alive in the GPAC playoff hunt, the Briar Cliff mens basketball team rallied in the second half to down Jamestown 91-83 Wednesday night in the Newman Flanagan Center.
The Jimmies jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead and controlled the game for much of the first half. The Chargers did manage to take a lead in the first stanza, but Jamestown regained the advantage on the next possession and ended the half on an 8-1 run to lead at the break 36-30.
The Cliff offense caught fire in the second half as the team put up 61 points on 64% shooting in the final 20 minutes.
Jaden Kleinhesselink and Jackson Lamb led the BC attack with 26 points each. Lamb was the more efficient of the two with his points coming on an 8-for-12 shooting night, connecting on 4-of-5 3-pointers. The senior finished with a double-double as well, leading the Chargers in rebounds with 10.
Kleinhesselink contributed across the board for the Blue and Gold, leading the team with seven assists while hauling in seven boards. The Chargers had a slew of players crashing the glass with three other players collecting at least seven rebounds. Ethan Freidel tallied eight while Austin Roetman and Tony Bonner both finished with seven.
Jamestowns Jack Talley led all players in scoring on the night with 31 points, while Mason Walters hauled in a game-high 11 rebounds to go along with 12 points for a double-double. Brady Birch brought in 10 rebounds and had a game-high four blocks. As a team the Jimmies swatted away five BC shot attempts. The Chargers blocked four shots with Roetman and Lamb finishing with two each.
For the game, Briar Cliff shot 49% from the field, 50% on 3-pointers and 63% from the free throw line. The Cliff defense suffocated the Jimmies all night as Jamestown finished shooting 41% from the field, 31% on 3-pointers and 77% from the charity stripe.
Briar Cliff outrebounded Jamestown 46-43 and finished with 13 assists and 13 turnovers. Jamestown had 12 assists with nine turnovers.
With the loss, Jamestown moves to 18-11 overall and 9-10 in the GPAC. Briar Cliff improved to 15-14 on the year with a league mark of 6-13.
The Chargers remain one game behind Hastings (14-15, 7-12 GPAC) in the conference standings with one game left on the docket. BC holds the tie-breaker between the two squads and will need to end the season with a victory combined with a Bronco loss to #9 Dakota Wesleyan in the season finale.
The Chargers wrap up the regular season on Saturday with a 4 p.m. meeting with Doane (7-22, 2-17 GPAC) at the Newman Flanagan Center. Briar Cliff will honor the senior class on Ray Nacke Court before tipoff.
Alyssa Carley scored 25 points Wednesday night in one of the seniors final games at the Newman Flanagan Center, none more important than a last-ditch 3-pointer at the buzzer to send the contest to force overtime against the Jamestown. BC went on to win 77-70 in OT.
With six second on the clock, Jamestowns Courtney Mosloski went 1-for-2 at the free throw line to put the Jimmies up 64-61, missing the second of the two attempts. BCs Breanna Allen grabbed the rebound and dribbled the length of the floor as the seconds ticked off before she passed the ball off the Carley, who banked in a three as the buzzer sounded.
“This is a great team win for us,” said head coach Mike Power. “We battled through injuries and foul trouble and the girls did a great job fighting until the end.”
Jamestown led by as many as 13 points in the fourth quarter before a 16-4 run by the Cliff over the final seven minutes of regulation that was capped off by Carleys heroics. BC never trailed in overtime, outscoring the Jimmies 13-6 in the period.
“This game was so much fun,” said Carley. “Every single girl stepped up huge and played without fear. Im down to the last couple games of my career and I want to make the most out of every single one. I am so proud of my team and the way we fought tonight.”
Carleys 25 points led all players on the floor, 15 of which came from beyond the arc. She was tied for a team-high with five steals. Allen contributed an early 3-point bucket for the Cliff, her only points of the game, but the senior matched Carleys steal mark as the pair totaled 10 of the Chargers 17 steals on the night. Madelyn Deitchler chipped in 16 points and grabbed nine boards and Payton Slaughter added 13 points to go with six assists.
Freshman Taylor Lamprecht was huge for the Cliff in the overtime period with seven of her nine points coming in that time.
BC will host Doane Saturday on Senior Day at the Newman Flanagan Center. The Cliff needs a win against the Tigers to keep its hopes of making the GPAC postseason tournament alive.
