SIOUX CITY, IOWA – The Valley City State men's basketball team shot 54 percent from the field but it wasn't quite enough to knock off undefeated Briar Cliff University on Friday night.
Playing on their home court, the Chargers used a second-half 3-point barrage to overcome VCSU's hot shooting in a 90-88 Charger victory. Valley City State drops to 3-3 overall this season while Briar Cliff improves to 5-0.
The Vikings started the game with a 12-3 lead and led the rest of the first half, opening up a 44-34 advantage at the break after
Caden Grinde nailed a 3-pointer to beat the halftime buzzer.
Briar Cliff made four 3's in the first four minutes of the second half, quickly erasing VCSU's 10-point lead and tying the game at 48-48. The teams would trade leads and ties for much of the second half before an 11-2 run by the Chargers gave them their biggest lead of the game at 81-71 with 2 minutes to go. A 3-pointer by VCSU's
Odier Olange trimmed the Vikings deficit to 3 points with 22 seconds left, but Briar Cliff made all four of its final free throw attempts to hold off VCSU.
The Vikings shot 54 percent overall (37-68), 44 percent on 3's (7-16) and 54 percent at the line (7-13). Briar Cliff was 52 percent overall on shooting (33-64), 46 percent on 3's (11-24) and 13-19 at the line (68 percent). The Chargers were 8-for-12 on 3's in the second half, fueling their second-half surge with the long ball.
Cleveland Bedgood poured in 28 points to lead the Vikings. The senior guard was 12-for-20 shooting and also added seven rebounds and a team-high five assists.
LaDarious Stanfield had a double-double off the bench with 11 points, 11 rebounds and three steals.
Lamar Grayson poured in 17 points and
Odier Olange added 10 points.
Hunter Lyman finished with nine points and seven rebounds.
Matthew Stilwill led the Chargers with a game-high 36 points, which included 12 free throws.
Up next: Valley City State is back home on Tuesday night hosting Trinity Bible College. The women's game tips at 5:30 p.m. with the men to follow at 7:30 p.m.
