Briar Cliff men's basketball couldn't overcome a double-digit deficit at halftime of Tuesday's game against Dordt. The Chargers fell 68-81 to RV Dordt in the Newman Flanagan Center.
 
"Disappointing night tonight, I don't think we were ready to play from the start and allowed Dordt to build a nine-point lead right out of the gate," said head coach Mark Svagera. "We need to continue to be better in our preparation so we're ready to play at a high-level for 40 minutes. As we go into Thanksgiving, we'll come back and get back to work. We need to as a team build an identity of what we're going to be because I believe that's lacking right now and once, we figure that out we're going to have a chance to really move forward in a positive direction. We're going to take a couple days off, refresh, regroup and come back ready to work as we move forward."
 
The Defenders raced out to an 11-2 lead four minutes into the game, but the Chargers started to chip away. BC outscored Dordt 13-6 over the next four minutes to pull within two points. However, Dordt pushed the advantage back up to 11 at halftime with a buzzer beater from Bryce Coppock.
 
The Chargers shot 44.4% from the field in the first half and 40% from deep but gave up eight points off turnovers and 18 points in the paint.
 
Dordt shot 58% from the field and 5-of-9 from deep in the opening half.
 
Looking to make a run at the Defender lead, a Jaden Kleinhesselink bucket followed by a Quinn Vesey steal and Matthew Stilwill score brought the Cliff within four points.
 
However, Dordt regained control and took their largest lead of the night 68-52 after a Trey Hinote basket with 5:59 left.
 
Conner Groves scored 15 points to pace the Cliff and knocked down three 3-pointers. Kyle Boerhave added 11 points and four rebounds. Stilwill and Blake Sindelar each scored 10 points off the bench and shot 50% or higher from the field.
 
Vesey and Kleinhesselink each tallied three steals, while Groves had two.
 
The Chargers travel to Orange City, Iowa next Wednesday to take on Northwestern in the Bultman Center.