Briar Cliff overcomes Randy Rosenquist Jr.'s big night for Tiger men
SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Dakota Wesleyan's Randy Rosenquist Jr. had a huge night, scoring 39 points but Briar Cliff held off a late Tigers charge in an 83-80 men's college basketball contest on Tuesday night.
After leading 75-71, the Tigers went the final 3 minutes and 21 seconds without a made field goal and Briar Cliff outscored DWU by a 12-5 margin to finish the game, with Blake Sindelar's 3-pointer with 1:12 remaining giving the Chargers the lead for good in the game at 78-77.
Rosenquist, who was 13-for-23 from the field and 10-for-11 on free throws, made three free throws for DWU late but Briar Cliff effectively employed the "foul up three points" strategy to not allow the Tigers to get a final shot to tie the game to end regulation. Coming off a four-point game against Hastings on Saturday, the freshman Rosenquist has now scored in double figures in six of seven games and bumping his scoring average to 17.1 points per game.
Tied at 36-all at halftime, the lead traded hands throughout the second half, with the Tigers going up by five points in the opening minutes of the period, only for BCU to lead 49-43 three minutes later. Later in the half, the second of two 3-pointers made by Kallan Herman tied the game at 71-all with 4:33 left, and Jakob Dobney had back-to-back baskets to leave DWU in front at 75-71 with 3:21 remaining.
DWU (4-3, 1-2 GPAC) finished shooting nearly 47% from the field (30-for-64), with a 5-for-17 night on 3-pointers and 15-for-22 on free throws. Dobney had 18 points and 10 rebounds, with 12 rebounds and three blocks for Samuel Aslesen, with nine points, six rebounds and four steals from Blaze Lubbers, and eight points from Herman.
The Chargers (7-0, 2-0 GPAC), who were receiving votes in the most recent NAIA top-25 poll, shot 41% from the field in the game but converted 12 3-pointers on 31 attempts. Matthew Stillwell, the reigning GPAC player of the week, had 26 points and 12 rebounds, while Jamison Helmers had 21 points, powered by five 3-pointers.
Both teams are headed to the Columbia Classic in Columbia, Missouri on Friday and Saturday. DWU will play on Friday against Columbia (Mo.) at 7 p.m., before a neutral-site game against Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) in Columbia on Saturday.
