Briar Cliff uses late rally to defeat DWU men
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Dakota Wesleyan University men’s basketball lead Briar Cliff University for nearly the entire game Tuesday night in Sioux City, Iowa. The Tigers, looking for their first win in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, led by as many as nine points late in the game, but the Chargers used a late rally to come back and win 91-81.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Dakota Wesleyan University men's basketball lead Briar Cliff University for nearly the entire game Tuesday night in Sioux City, Iowa. The Tigers, looking for their first win in the Great Plains Athletic Conference, led by as many as nine points late in the game, but the Chargers used a late rally to come back and win 91-81.
DWU (5-5, 0-2) went up by nine, 74-65, with 7:10 left to play on a layup by Anthony Muilenburg Wednesday night. From there, Briar Cliff went on an 8-0 run to cut the gap to one, 74-73, with 5:40 left in the game. A layup by Jade Miller pushed the Tigers' lead back to three, but the Chargers were able to tie the game, and took the lead with 2:30 remaining on a pair of free throws by Zach Otting.
Otting's free throws made it a 79-78 game, and Briar Cliff outscored the Tigers 12-3 in the final 2:30 of the game. Trae Bergh hit a three with 49 seconds left to make it a four-point game, 85-81, but the Chargers went 6-for-6 from the line in the final 33 seconds to seal the win.
Dakota Wesleyan claimed the lead to start the game, and led by as many as seven, 13-6, after a dunk by Jalen Voss with 13:57 left in the first half. BCU cut DWU's lead to one, and took its first lead of the game with 8:31 left in the half, but Voss and Miller each scored a handful of points to push the Tigers' lead back to six, 28-22, with 5:46 left in the half. The Chargers took a slim lead again right before halftime, but the Tigers led 38-37 heading into the break.
Bergh and Luke Bamberg scored to start the second half and add to the Tigers' lead, and Dakota Wesleyan held that lead until the 12:23 mark when Briar Cliff took a 54-53 lead on a 3-pointer by Shane Graves. DWU regained the lead and pushed the margin to seven before the Chargers came back.
Voss led all scorers with 29 points Wednesday night. Miller added 19 points and a team-high seven rebounds and Bergh finished with 14 points, including four 3-pointers. Bergh also had six assists and Tate Martin had five. The Tigers shot 53.2 percent from the field, including just over 47 percent from long range. DWU went 7-for-10 from the line and had 29 rebounds.
Otting led Briar Cliff (7-2, 4-0) with 21 points and went 10-for-10 from the line. Kale Wietfeld and Bryan Forbes each had 12 points, Ricky Torres had 11 and Clayton Harreld added 10. Torres also had eight rebounds for the Chargers, who shot just under 47 percent from the field and went 23-for-30 from the line. BCU had 39 rebounds.
Dakota Wesleyan is back on the road Wednesday, Dec. 4, when it takes on Morningside College at 8 p.m. in Sioux City, Iowa.