LINCOLN, Neb. -- Briar Cliff overcame a 6-point deficit in overtime to rally back and earn a 95-92 victory over Nebraska Wesleyan in GPAC men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon (Dec. 12) at Snyder Arena in a matchup between two teams that were tied for second in the league standings.
Nebraska Wesleyan (7-3, 3-2 GPAC) jumped ahead early in the overtime period on back-to-back 3-pointers from
Travis Giesselmann and
Trevor Leiting. The Prairie Wolves led 88-82 after a Giesselmann layup and looked like they had all the momentum.
Each team made one free throw on the next two possessions making the score 89-83 NWU with 2:59 remaining. From there, Briar Cliff would finish the game on a 12-3 run as NWU could not score on offense.
With the game tied at 89-89,
Keithan Karn rattled home a 3-pointer with 1:03 left to put the Prairie Wolves up by three points. Briar Cliff got a layup on their end of the floor to cut the lead to one. On the next time down the court, NWU held the ball until the shot clock wound down and
Trey Bardsley drove the lane where he made the layup but was called for charging. It was the 5th foul for Bardsley as he exited with 24 seconds left.
Briar Cliff set up a play and had Erich Erdmann make a layup and get fouled with 11 seconds left. He made the free throw to give the Chargers a 94-92 lead.
NWU had a chance to win or tie, but
Travis Giesselmann drove the lane and missed a layup and the long rebound went to BCU as they clinched the win.
It was not a typical Prairie Wolves offensive game as they never could get into rhythm.
Trey Bardsley gave NWU a 60-59 lead with 12:56 remaining, but they would not score again until 6:45 left. The Prairie Wolves were held without a point for over six minutes as 12th-ranked Briar Cliff went on a 14-0 run and got up by 13 points with 7:08 left.
Like all season long, NWU didn't give up and quickly got back in the game. Giesselmann hit consecutive 3-pointers and
Trevor Leiting nailed one in the corner to cut the lead to four points.
Briar Cliff converted a layup by Shane Graves with 2:24 remaining to lead 80-76 and they didn't score the rest of the way in regulation. Giesselmann made two free throws to trim the lead in half.
Finally, with 41 seconds remaining, Leiting hit Giesselmann in stride and he made a layup and was fouled to tie the game. He missed the free throw making the score 80-80. Briar Cliff missed a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left but got the offensive rebound. Graves then drove the lane but had the ball knocked off his leg by
Trey Bardsley giving NWU the ball with 0:04 left. Bardsley drove the length of the floor but his running 3-pointer wouldn't go down.
Both teams struggled at the free throw line which allowed their opposition to stay close. NWU was just 6-16 at the charity stripe, while Briar Cliff was 21-39 (53.8%).
Five players scored in double figures for the Chargers led by Bryan Forbes with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
NWU had three players score in double figures and shot 14-45 from 3-point range in the game.
Travis Giesselmann scored a season-high 36 points and pulled down a career-high 19 rebounds in the loss. He also dished out five assists, but had seven turnovers.
Trey Bardsley was held to 3-11 shooting from 3-point range and scored 21 points with eight rebounds.
Keithan Karn produced a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds.
NWU will try to rebound in one week when they travel to Orange City, Iowa to face Northwestern College.
