The Charger men's basketball earned a gritty win Friday evening, beating the Valley City State University Vikings 90-88 inside the Newman Flanagan Center. Briar Cliff trailed by 10 heading into halftime.
 
"We really had to battle back after finding ourselves down 10 at half," said Head Coach Mark Svagera. "The first three-four minutes of the second half was huge in turning the tide of the game. We made some big plays down the stretch, and I was really proud of the fight we played with throughout the second half!"
 
The Vikings got off to a fast start in the first half, leading 14-7 in the first five minutes of the contest. The Chargers pulled within three following a basket from Wil Lugar midway through the quarter. VCSU were able to extend their lead back to 10 and took a 44-34 lead into intermission following Caden Grinde's three as time expired.
 
Coming out of the break, the Cliff came out firing from long range, as Jamison Helmers and Lugar knocked down threes to help cut the lead down to one. With 11:22 remaining in the contest, the Chargers took their first lead of the night, leading 55-54 after Matthew Stilwill's triple off an assist from Blake Sindelar.
 
Briar Cliff led by 10 with under two minutes to play, after Helmers grabbed an offensive board, and kicked it out to Stillwill, who knocked down a three to give BCU a 81-71 lead. Stilwill took control for the remainder of the contest, scoring the final 12 points in regulation and the Chargers came out with a 90-88 victory.
 
The Chargers continue their hot streak to five, behind Stilwill's 36 points and six rebounds. Lugar scored a career high 23 points and shot 76% from the field. Helmers chipped in 15 points and collected five rebounds. Briar Cliff shot 51% from the field, and 48% from beyond the arc.
 
The Viking's Cleveland Bedgood scored 28 points and grabbed seven rebounds in the effort.
 
The 5-0 start to the season is the best start to a season since the 2018-19 campaign for the Cliff.  Briar Cliff will return to action November 15^th, as they travel to Fremont, Nebraska to take on the Midland Warriors for their GPAC opener. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:45.