The Briar Cliff men's basketball team picked up its fourth win in the GPAC Saturday over Doane, 81-65 in Crete, Nebraska. BC is now 6-7 on the season and 4-5 in conference play.
 
"I thought our guys were dialed in and ready to play for 40 minutes today," said head coach Mark Svagera. "They executed the game plan and countered every run that Doane made in the second half."
 
The Tigers were on the board first with a 3-pointer from Joe Burt, but Quinn Vesey answered with a 3-ball of his own. BC was on fire from behind the 3-point line to start, connecting on five straight treys to take a 15-5 lead at the 15-minute mark.
 
The Cliff extended their lead to 24 with 8:34 left in the first half, 33-9 after Conner Groves fourth 3-pointer. Groves scored all 14 of his points in the opening 12 minutes, connecting on 4-of-4 3-points attempts. BC and Doane traded baskets over the final eight minutes, with the Chargers taking a 44-20 lead into the halftime break.
 
In the first 20 minutes, Briar Cliff shot 16-of-30 (53.3%) from the field and 8-of-18 (44.4%) from the 3-point line with nine assists.
 
BC struck first in the second half, knocking down a 3-point basket to give the Chargers their largest lead of the night 47-20. The Tigers were unable to rally a comeback, as the Cliff's lead never dropped below 16 points.
 
"In another game without our fans in the stands, I thought the bench energy was awesome!" said Svagera.
 
Vasa put up 21 points, on 8-of-10 shooting and 2-of-3 from behind the arc, seven rebounds, and six assists. Groves scored 14 points and grabbed three rebounds. Nick Hoyt (12) and Jaden Kleinhesselink (10) were the other Chargers in double-figures. Kleinhesselink grabbed seven boards and dished out three assists.
 
The Charger defense was able to limit Doane to just 35.8 percent from the floor and 21.9 percent from the 3-point line, compared to 50.9 percent from the field and 41.4 percent on 3-point attempt for BC.
 
Anthony Laravie had a game-high 25 points and five rebounds to lead the Tigers. Jaxon Harre was the only other player in double-digits for Doane with 13 points. ­
 
Briar Cliff is back in action Monday in Madison, South Dakota facing off against Dakota State. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.