Briar Cliff hosts fourth-ranked Sioux Falls
By Barry Poe Journal sports writer | Posted: Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Now that the Briar Cliff University men's basketball team appears to have righted the ship, the Chargers turn their attention to the hottest team in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
The University of Sioux Falls, 15-1 overall and ranked fourth nationally in NAIA Division II, invades the Newman Flanagan Center for an 8 o'clock game tonight. Sioux Falls, the defending league champions and the preseason favorite to repeat, has won 10 straight since a 79-70 loss at Morningside on Nov. 18.
Yes, the Cougars are 0-1 in Sioux City.
"They're an outstanding team, no doubt about that," said Briar Cliff Coach Todd Barry. "But I felt like our guys did a great job this weekend. I felt like we didn't play that well against Haskell, but found a way to win, but I thought we played well against Baker."
Briar Cliff snapped an eight-game losing streak with a pair of victories in its own holiday tournament last weekend. The Chargers, now 5-10 overall, beat Haskell Indian Nations 74-66 on Friday and dominated Baker University (Kan.) 84-62 in Saturday's championship game.
Sioux Falls is 5-1 in the conference, just one-half game behind Dordt (5-0), while Briar Cliff is winless in six GPAC tests.
"We felt like we took a step forward last weekend, now the question is, 'Can we take another step this week?'" said Barry. "Against a team like Sioux Falls, which has guys who are all 6-foot-6 or 6-7 with long arms, you have to be able to rebound the ball.
"We just have to go out there and do our things and one of the big keys will be rebounding."
A recent lineup switch, which involved moving Kelvin Adams to a starter and bringing Neil Rohe off the bench, seems to have sparked the Chargers.
Rohe, a 6-3 junior from Le Mars, Iowa, was named most valuable player in the BCU Holiday Tournament after combining for 39 points in two games. Adams, a 6-5 freshman from Madrid, Iowa, was also named to the all-tournament team and has averaged 13.7 points in his three games as a starter.
"Neil has given us a big spark off the bench, but there have been some other guys who've played well, too," said Barry. "We feel like the Christmas break was good for us to get rejuvinated, but it's important for us to take another step this week."
Obviously, it won't be an easy task against Sioux Falls, which lists only three players under 6-foot-5 on its entire 14-man roster. Those three, incidentally, are 6-foot-3.
The Cougars lead the GPAC in field goal percentage (51.0 percent) and have limited opponents to an average of 63.1 points, also tops in the league. Dylan Kvaale, a 6-5 senior guard, shoots 65.1 percent from the field and leads the team with a 17.6 scoring average. Kvaale, from Ellsworth, Minn., had nearly half of his team's points, netting 25 in a 54-52 victory over Peru State in the Dakota Wesleyan Holiday Classic on Saturday.
Shane Murphy, a former University of South Dakota standout from Harlan, Iowa, is the Sioux Falls head coach. His other regular starters are senior Eric Depue (6-5), junior Jesse Huser (6-5) and sophomore Gerad VanLeur (6-6). Kyle Johnson, a 6-7 sophomore, has started nine games while Ryan Millsap, a 6-5 senior, has six starts.
Adi Cizmic, a 6-5 junior who played at Bishop Heelan, continues to lead the Chargers with a 17.2 scoring average while Rohe is right behind at 16.5. Junioir guard Kurt Webb, who had 19 points in the win over Baker, averages 12.4 points per game.
Across town tonight at Morningside's Allee Gym, the Mustangs play host to Northwestern. Each have identical 11-5 overall marks and are 4-2 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
The University of Sioux Falls, 15-1 overall and ranked fourth nationally in NAIA Division II, invades the Newman Flanagan Center for an 8 o'clock game tonight. Sioux Falls, the defending league champions and the preseason favorite to repeat, has won 10 straight since a 79-70 loss at Morningside on Nov. 18.
Yes, the Cougars are 0-1 in Sioux City.
"They're an outstanding team, no doubt about that," said Briar Cliff Coach Todd Barry. "But I felt like our guys did a great job this weekend. I felt like we didn't play that well against Haskell, but found a way to win, but I thought we played well against Baker."
Briar Cliff snapped an eight-game losing streak with a pair of victories in its own holiday tournament last weekend. The Chargers, now 5-10 overall, beat Haskell Indian Nations 74-66 on Friday and dominated Baker University (Kan.) 84-62 in Saturday's championship game.
Sioux Falls is 5-1 in the conference, just one-half game behind Dordt (5-0), while Briar Cliff is winless in six GPAC tests.
"We felt like we took a step forward last weekend, now the question is, 'Can we take another step this week?'" said Barry. "Against a team like Sioux Falls, which has guys who are all 6-foot-6 or 6-7 with long arms, you have to be able to rebound the ball.
"We just have to go out there and do our things and one of the big keys will be rebounding."
A recent lineup switch, which involved moving Kelvin Adams to a starter and bringing Neil Rohe off the bench, seems to have sparked the Chargers.
Rohe, a 6-3 junior from Le Mars, Iowa, was named most valuable player in the BCU Holiday Tournament after combining for 39 points in two games. Adams, a 6-5 freshman from Madrid, Iowa, was also named to the all-tournament team and has averaged 13.7 points in his three games as a starter.
"Neil has given us a big spark off the bench, but there have been some other guys who've played well, too," said Barry. "We feel like the Christmas break was good for us to get rejuvinated, but it's important for us to take another step this week."
Obviously, it won't be an easy task against Sioux Falls, which lists only three players under 6-foot-5 on its entire 14-man roster. Those three, incidentally, are 6-foot-3.
The Cougars lead the GPAC in field goal percentage (51.0 percent) and have limited opponents to an average of 63.1 points, also tops in the league. Dylan Kvaale, a 6-5 senior guard, shoots 65.1 percent from the field and leads the team with a 17.6 scoring average. Kvaale, from Ellsworth, Minn., had nearly half of his team's points, netting 25 in a 54-52 victory over Peru State in the Dakota Wesleyan Holiday Classic on Saturday.
Shane Murphy, a former University of South Dakota standout from Harlan, Iowa, is the Sioux Falls head coach. His other regular starters are senior Eric Depue (6-5), junior Jesse Huser (6-5) and sophomore Gerad VanLeur (6-6). Kyle Johnson, a 6-7 sophomore, has started nine games while Ryan Millsap, a 6-5 senior, has six starts.
Adi Cizmic, a 6-5 junior who played at Bishop Heelan, continues to lead the Chargers with a 17.2 scoring average while Rohe is right behind at 16.5. Junioir guard Kurt Webb, who had 19 points in the win over Baker, averages 12.4 points per game.
Across town tonight at Morningside's Allee Gym, the Mustangs play host to Northwestern. Each have identical 11-5 overall marks and are 4-2 in the Great Plains Athletic Conference.
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