The Charger men's basketball team downed Indiana University East 75-68 Saturday in Marion, Indiana behind strong bench play and a hot shooting performance from Nick Hoyt.
 
Hoyt poured in 24 points off the bench, going 6-for-9 from beyond the arc and 6-for-6 from the charity stripe.
 
"I thought our guys played with a lot of resiliency today after a disappointing second half last night," said head coach Mark Svagera. "We had to turn around on short notice to be ready to play against a really strong program in IU-East."
 
The Chargers held the lead from start to finish, but the Red Wolves stayed within striking distance all game. BC extended their lead to double digits for the first time at the 12-minute mark, off a 10-2 run to lead 24-13. The Red Wolves would battle back with a 10-0 run, to trail by just one point. A 3-pointer by Hoyt would end the IU-East run, and back-to-back buckets from Andrew Gibb gave the Cliff a 37-31 lead at halftime.
 
Hoyt led the Chargers in the first half with 10 points knocking down three treys on four attempts, including a four-point play. Outside of Hoyt, the Cliff shot just 1-for-7 from deep.
 
Six straight Red Wolves points to start the second half tied the game at 37-37. Just a minute after checking in for the first time in the second half, Hoyt converted his second four-point play of the afternoon to give BC a three-point lead.
 
The two teams traded baskets until the 13-minute mark when the Cliff built their lead up to 58-48 with a 10-0 run. Quinn Vesey scored seven of the 10 points over the run. The Red Wolves outscored BC 14-8 over the final five minutes of regulation, but the Chargers made the necessary stops and scores to hold onto a 75-68 win.
 
Matthew Stilwill added 10 points for a BC bench that scored 42 points. Quinn Vesey chipped in 12 points going 5-for-8 from the floor. Quinten Vasa nearly had a double double with nine rebounds and seven assists.
 
Jaden Kleinhesselink scored five points and became the 47th member of the Briar Cliff men's basketball 1000-point club.
 
Justin Williams had a game high 26 points to lead the Red Wolves. Jehu Lafeuillee and Jamisen Smith added 15 and 10 points, respectively.
 
"All in all I'm happy with how we ended the weekend here and I thought our bench was enormous for us today," said Svagera. "Sammy gave us a huge spark off the bench, which doesn't always show in the stat sheet, but he really directed the offense and made plays for others. We will enjoy the trip home together and get ready to go back on the road later this week."
 
Briar Cliff improves to 2-2 and will travel to Cedar Rapids, Iowa Wednesday for a 7 p.m. tip-off against Mount Mercy.