The Charger men's basketball team returned to the win column after taking down the visiting Jamestown Jimmies 82-81 inside the Newman Flanagan Center Wednesday evening.
Blake Sindelar dropped a game high 23 points and went 10-for-14 from the field.
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"Really proud of the effort our guys played with tonight, unfortunately, we've been on the wrong side of a couple of very similar games, to grind that out and find a way to make a couple huge plays I was really happy with our guys," said Head Coach
Mark Svagera. "I thought our last couple days of preparation was key, I thought our guys practiced really well, happy for our guys to get back on the winning side of things."
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The Chargers started the game knocking down two threes from
Quinn Vesey and
Jamison Helmers. The Chargers took a 8-3 lead early after a jumper from Vesey. Briar Cliff took a 21-16 lead with 10:39 to go in the first half following and and-one play by
Matthew Stilwill. On the next possession, Stilwill recorded a steal and threw an outlet pass to
Wil Lugar who took slammed it home to give the Chargers a seven-point lead. After a back-and-forth first half, the Jimmies led 36-35 heading into the break.
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Both teams traded baskets early on, until a three from Sindelar gave the Cliff a 56-50 lead with 12:01 left in the game. The Jimmies regained the lead with 7:21 remaining following a three from Silas Bennion. With 1:58 on the game clock, Stillwill recorded a steal and went coast-to-coast to tie the game 76-76. Sindelar the next possession made a tough basket in the paint to give Briar Cliff a two-point lead. A foul on the Chargers allowed the Jimmies to tie the game with 57 seconds left. After a timeout, Silas nailed a three for the Jimmies and the led by one with 25 seconds left.
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On the next possession, Sindelar got the ball on a post-up, and scored over the coverage to give the Chargers an 82-81 lead. The Jimmies had one final shot attempt, but Silas three was offline and the Chargers took home the victory.
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Stilwill scored 19 points on eight-for-15 shooting and grabbed four steals. Vesey added 15 points and grabbed five boards. Lugar locked down the paint for the Chargers, recording four blocks, all in the first half.
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The Chargers improve to 10-7 (4-5 GPAC) on the season. The Chargers will return to action this Saturday, as they travel to Seward, Nebraska to take on the Concordia Bulldogs. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:45 p.m.
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