A dominant first half from the Charger men's basketball team helped the squad to their first win of the season, taking down Dickinson State 98-85 Friday morning in Bellevue.

Ethan Freidel was key in the first half, scoring 17 of his 20 points in the first 20 minutes and shooting an efficient 5-6 from behind the arc. BC held its largest lead of the game (+23) in the first half after connecting on six 3-pointers on six straight possessions, including three treys from Conner Groves. A Nick Hoyt 3-pointer with five seconds left in the half gave BC a 22-point lead going into the break. The Charger defense held Dickinson State to just 32.4% from the field in the first half.

"I thought we did some really good things particularly in the first half, and were pretty consistent throughout," said head coach Mark Svagera. "Obviously it's always a great day to get your first win of the year."

BC held a double-digit lead throughout the second half despite being outscored 53-44. Dickinson State made its run with seven minutes left in the game, outscoring BC 12-4 to cut the Charger lead to just 11 points, but ultimately was not enough to take down the Cliff.

"I was really happy with the way we shared the basketball today. We got a lot of offensive contributions and were able to keep their defense guessing throughout the game," said Svagera.

Jaden Kleinhesselink led BC in scoring with 22 points on 8-of-12 shooting and recorded a game-high nine rebounds. Quinten Vasa filled the stat sheet with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists while shooting 80% from the floor. Conner Groves and Nick Hoyt were the other Chargers to score double-digit points with 15 and 13, respectively. 

"At this point we are striving for more consistency, particularly on the defensive side, but that's a work in progress that we will continue to focus on," noted Svagera. "We are happy to get the win and are ready to move on tomorrow for the next one."

Briar Cliff shot 60.3% from the field and 54.5% from the 3-point line and recorded 29 assists on 35 made field goals. Dickson State was successful on 46.5% of its field goals and 47.6% from deep.

The Chargers are back in action tomorrow in the Bellevue Classic with a rematch against Bellevue University. Tip-off is set for 1:00 PM.