A rough shooting night for Briar Cliff was too much to overcome as the Chargers dropped an 83-72 verdict to (RV) Concordia Saturday in the Newman Flanagan Center.

The two teams struggled to pull away from each other in the first half with each squad showing sparks of momentum. The opening 20 minutes saw six ties and three lead changes with neither side gaining an advantage of more than six points as the Bulldogs headed to the locker rooms up 33-30.

Concordia raced out to a double digit lead early in the second stanza and never allowed Briar Cliff to get back within a single possession. A 3-pointer by Jackson Lamb with 10:36 remaining got the Blue and Gold to within four points, but the Bulldogs responded with back-to-back baskets and eventually pulled back ahead by double figures. Concordia led by as many as 16 before ending the game with the 11-point edge.

Brevin Sloup appeared to be the major factor in the decision with 28 points, six rebounds and four assists for the visitors. Sloup hit half of Concordia's 3-pointers as he went 5-of-12 from deep. Tanner Shuck was the only other Bulldog in double figures as he finished with 15 points.

Jackson Lamb led the way for BC with 23 points. He also tallied five rebounds, three assists and a steal. Austin Roetman nearly collected a double-double with 15 points and nine boards.
Ethan Freidel and Conner Groves just missed double-digit point totals as each settled for nine. Groves added three assists to tie Lamb for the team lead. Next up on the scoring chart for the Cliff was Quinn Vesey with five while Wil Johnson added four points.

Both teams picked up their shooting in the second half as Briar Cliff was 11-for-31 in the opening 20 minutes for 35% and Concordia was 12-for-30 for 40%. The Bulldogs were successful just 14% of the time from 3-point range in the first half as BC wasn't much better, hitting at a 17% clip. Concordia shot lights out in the second half, hitting 53% from the field and 50% from deep in the latter part of the game. While the Cliff saw improvement, the team still just hit on 41% from the field for the game and 26% on 3-pointers.

Concordia also held the advantage on the glass with a 42-33 edge on rebounds. Offensive boards were 7-4 in favor of the Bulldogs.

The win moves Concordia to 14-5 overall and 7-4 in the GPAC. Briar Cliff drops to 11-10 on the year with a 2-9 conference record. The Chargers go on the road for the next three games with a meeting against Northwestern scheduled for 8 p.m. Wednesday in Orange City, Iowa.