The Briar Cliff men's basketball contest against Hastings Thursday went down to the wire in Hastings, Nebraska with the Broncos toppling the Cliff 67-65.
"At times tonight we did some really good things. I thought our defensive activity in the first half was really good, and when we got the ball moving we had some great offensive possessions," said head coach
Mark Svagera. "Unfortunately, consistency throughout games continues to elude us, and we need to take that step forward after the break."
Nick Hoyt was on fire in the first half leading the team with 12 points, while connecting on all four of his shot attempts from behind the 3-point line.
The Chargers opened with an 8-2 lead, but the score would tie at 16 at the midway point of the half. The Chargers early six-point lead was the largest of the half, as neither team would lead by more than three points.
The Chargers received nine points from the bench unit in the first half led by
Blake Sindelar's four points. BC knocked six 3-pointers and held the Broncos to 33.3% from the field.
BC grabbed a five-point advantage five minutes into the second half after a 9-0 run. The Bulldogs would swing the momentum in their favor with their own 13-2 run, taking a nine-point lead with seven minutes left.
Briar Cliff began to chip away at the lead, pulling within four points with a minute left. After a missed Hastings free throw with four seconds left, the Chargers game-winning attempt from deep was off the mark as they fell 65-67.
Hoyt had 14 to lead the Chargers, followed by 13 from Kleinhesselink and 11 from
Quinn Vesey. Boerhave grabbed seven rebounds while Vesey had six.
BC made 10 treys and extended their double-digit 3-pointer made streak to three games.
The Chargers fall to 6-6 (2-5 GPAC) on the season and will return to action after the Christmas break on December 29 at Missouri Baptist.
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