A season high 31 points from Ethan Freidel was not enough as the Briar Cliff men's basketball team fell 73-89 to Morningside Wednesday night. The loss snaps a five game Charger win streak and are now 10-8 on the season and 7-6 in the GPAC.
 
Strong play on both sides of the ball helped BC jump out to a 15-9 lead six minutes into the game.  The Chargers connected on six of their first 10 attempts and forced four Mustang turnovers.
 
"We had a great start to the game and built a lead," said head coach Mark Svagera. "We relented our intensity and allowed too many easy baskets on the defensive end."
 
Morningside took their first lead of the contest after an 8-0 run with 7:51 remaining in the first half. Jaden Kleinhesselink converted an and-one to give the Cliff a 23-22 lead with just over five minutes left. The Mustangs answered with a 14-3 run to take a 36-26 edge at halftime.
 
Morningside extended their lead to 16, 50-34 after a Trey Brown and-one with 14:56 in the second half. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Ethan Freidel and Kleinhesselink cut the Mustang lead to nine with 13:26 left. Over the next two minutes Morningside went on a 10-0 run, fueled by eight points from Trey Brown. Ethan Freidel gave the Cliff a spark scoring 22 points in the final 10 minutes, but the Mustangs were able to trade baskets and hold onto a double-digit lead.
 
"We will continue pushing forward and prepare for the weekend," said Svagera.
 
Freidel scored 28 of his game high 31 in the second half and knocked down 9-of-15 from behind the 3-point line. Freidel also grabbed a team high five rebounds. Kleinhesselink added 12 points and four rebounds. Quinn Vesey chipped in 10 points and Quinten Vasa dished out six assists.
 
BC knocked down 16-of-43 3-point attempts but shot just 39.4 percent from the field. The Blue and Gold held the advantage in bench points (39-29) and committed less turnovers (11-12).
 
Will Pottebaum led Morningside in scoring with 20 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Trey Brown Recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Aidan Vanderloo (13) and Trey Powers (15) also hit double-figures scoring while Zach Imig narrowly missed a double-double with nine points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Mustangs shot an efficient 57.6 percent from the floor, with 52 points in the paint. Morningside held advantages in points off turnovers (19-12), points in the paint (52-18), and second chance points (17-7).
 
The Cliff returns to the Newman Flanagan Center Saturday for a GPAC matchup with Midland. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m.