Defense powers BC past Hastings, 60-51
By Jerry GieseJournal sports writer | Posted: Sunday, January 27, 2008
Defense was the story down the stretch for Briar Cliff's men's basketball team in Saturday afternoon's key Great Plains Athletic Conference game against Hastings.
Trailing 44-40 with 6:35 remaining at the Newman Flanagan Center, Coach Todd Barry's Chargers went on 12-0 run, taking the lead for keeps and holding Hastings without a field goal for five minutes en route to a 60-51 triumph.
"Today, it all started out with team defense, playing hard and picking up on 'D'," said Chargers' forward Neil Rohe, who scored nine of his game-high 14 points in the last six minutes and launched the run with his second three-point basket of the game.
"We did a good job of holding them to 51 points,'' said Rohe. "I'm so proud of the guys. The key for us on defense is playing hard and trusting your teammates. Everyone has their roles. You do your role, the rest will do theirs. You pick up intensity off each other."
Briar Cliff, now 15-8 and 8-4 in the GPAC, is 15-0 when holding opponents below 72 points. Saturday, the Chargers held Hastings' top two scorers well below their season averages.
Bobby Kempf, a 6-11 senior who entered with a 13.5 average and was shooting 54.7 percent, was held to three points on 1-for-4 shooting. Scott Wissing, a 6-5 junior who had scored at a 13.1 clip, had six points.
"The key for us was being aggressive when you face a team with size," said Barry, whose team weathered a 17-0 Hastings run late in the first half and early in the second. "It's a matter of being aggressive and how quick you play. We had quickness over them."
Hastings (16-7, 6-5), which stumbled to its fifth straight loss, had only one double-digit scorer, Michael Etzelmiller, who finished with 12 points for a team that has gone 1-7 since starting the season with 15 straight wins.
"Briar Cliff did a great job and limited a lot of touches inside for us," said Hastings Coach Lance Creech. "Just take a look at their personnel. Their guards have long arms and they're very athletic. They get their long arms inside and it takes away a lot of chances."
Adi Cizmic added 10 points for Briar Cliff, which failed to score in the final 4:14 of the first half as Hastings trimmed a 26-15 deficit down to 26-24. The Broncos added to that 9-0 run with the first eight points of the second half, surgingin front 32-26.
Briar Cliff also got contributions from its reserves. Dehonis Williams was the only starter on the floor when Hastings took a 39-32 lead on a tip-in by 6-6 Jason Zelasney.
Reserves provided all of the scoring in an 8-0 Briar Cliff run that followed. Michael Dickes and Kelvin Adams hit consecutive three-pointers and Brock Cooper gave Barry's squad a 40-39 lead on a shot from the free throw line.
"Our bench was huge," said Barry. "We were down by seven with Kelvin Adams, Michael Dickes, Brock Cooper and Derek Mechaelsen in there. They gave us a lot of energy and were ready to contribute."
Dickes led the reserves with eight points, including a pair of threes. Cooper added six points. Dickes and Cooper combined on 6-for-6 free throw shooting in the final 25 seconds to clinch the win.
"They stepped it up on defense, moved the ball well and got good looks to the basket," said Rohe. "Our whole team is unselfish. When we were on the bench, we were happy for them. We were cheering them on."
Meanwhile, Creech was scratching his head afterwards, wondering about the future of his team.
The Broncos' losing streak started Jan. 13, when point guard Cory Fehringer was lost for the season with an ACL injury in an 82-70 loss to Dakota Wesleyan.
"He's a senior, he's savvy and he's a manager," said Creech. "He gets people where they need to be, he's strong with the ball and he's a great foul shooter. If we would have had him the last five minutes tonight, it would have made a difference.
"Our point guard play since has been erratic. We just have to suck it up. We've got too much to play for."
Briar Cliff will host Grace College at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Hastings (51)
Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP
Derrik Spooner 27 3 7 0 2 1 3 0 7
Kevin Prochaska 27 3 5 0 1 1 2 3 8
Michael Etzelmiller 25 4 10 0 0 2 4 5 12
Kyle Wamsley 17 3 4 2 4 4 0 3 8
Bobby Kempf 27 1 4 1 2 4 1 2 3
Jeremiah Slough 23 1 6 1 1 3 2 2 3
Scott Wissing 29 2 4 0 0 2 1 0 6
Waid Vontz 14 0 2 0 0 2 1 1 0
Derek Fletcher 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Jason Zelasney 5 2 3 0 0 2 0 0 4
Cory Fehringer 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 3
Totals 200 19 45 4 10 25 14 16 51
Briar Cliff (60)
Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP
Brett Ratcliff 35 1 2 0 0 3 5 0 2
Kurt Webb 24 2 7 2 2 0 3 1 7
Adi Cizmic 29 4 10 2 3 4 3 1 10
Neil Rohe 28 5 10 2 2 4 2 1 14
Dehonis Williams 23 1 3 0 0 2 0 3 2
Kelvin Adams 11 2 3 0 0 0 3 2 5
Michael Dickes 12 2 4 2 2 4 2 1 8
Matt Geelan 12 1 2 0 0 3 0 1 2
Derek Mechaelsen 6 2 2 0 0 1 0 3 4
Brock Cooper 16 1 4 4 4 3 0 1 6
Casey Morgan 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Team 6
Totals 200 21 47 12 13 31 18 15 60
Score by halves:
Hastings 24 27 51
Briar Cliff 26 34 60
3-point shots Hastings 9-21 (Etzelmiller 4-8, Wissing 2-4, Prochaska 2-3, Spooner 1-3, Slough 0-2, Vontz 0-1); Briar Cliff 6-21 (Dickes 2-3, Rohe 2-7, Adams 1-2, Webb 1-3, Cizmic 0-3, Cooper 0-2, Ratcliff 0-1).
Trailing 44-40 with 6:35 remaining at the Newman Flanagan Center, Coach Todd Barry's Chargers went on 12-0 run, taking the lead for keeps and holding Hastings without a field goal for five minutes en route to a 60-51 triumph.
"Today, it all started out with team defense, playing hard and picking up on 'D'," said Chargers' forward Neil Rohe, who scored nine of his game-high 14 points in the last six minutes and launched the run with his second three-point basket of the game.
"We did a good job of holding them to 51 points,'' said Rohe. "I'm so proud of the guys. The key for us on defense is playing hard and trusting your teammates. Everyone has their roles. You do your role, the rest will do theirs. You pick up intensity off each other."
Briar Cliff, now 15-8 and 8-4 in the GPAC, is 15-0 when holding opponents below 72 points. Saturday, the Chargers held Hastings' top two scorers well below their season averages.
Bobby Kempf, a 6-11 senior who entered with a 13.5 average and was shooting 54.7 percent, was held to three points on 1-for-4 shooting. Scott Wissing, a 6-5 junior who had scored at a 13.1 clip, had six points.
"The key for us was being aggressive when you face a team with size," said Barry, whose team weathered a 17-0 Hastings run late in the first half and early in the second. "It's a matter of being aggressive and how quick you play. We had quickness over them."
Hastings (16-7, 6-5), which stumbled to its fifth straight loss, had only one double-digit scorer, Michael Etzelmiller, who finished with 12 points for a team that has gone 1-7 since starting the season with 15 straight wins.
"Briar Cliff did a great job and limited a lot of touches inside for us," said Hastings Coach Lance Creech. "Just take a look at their personnel. Their guards have long arms and they're very athletic. They get their long arms inside and it takes away a lot of chances."
Adi Cizmic added 10 points for Briar Cliff, which failed to score in the final 4:14 of the first half as Hastings trimmed a 26-15 deficit down to 26-24. The Broncos added to that 9-0 run with the first eight points of the second half, surgingin front 32-26.
Briar Cliff also got contributions from its reserves. Dehonis Williams was the only starter on the floor when Hastings took a 39-32 lead on a tip-in by 6-6 Jason Zelasney.
Reserves provided all of the scoring in an 8-0 Briar Cliff run that followed. Michael Dickes and Kelvin Adams hit consecutive three-pointers and Brock Cooper gave Barry's squad a 40-39 lead on a shot from the free throw line.
"Our bench was huge," said Barry. "We were down by seven with Kelvin Adams, Michael Dickes, Brock Cooper and Derek Mechaelsen in there. They gave us a lot of energy and were ready to contribute."
Dickes led the reserves with eight points, including a pair of threes. Cooper added six points. Dickes and Cooper combined on 6-for-6 free throw shooting in the final 25 seconds to clinch the win.
"They stepped it up on defense, moved the ball well and got good looks to the basket," said Rohe. "Our whole team is unselfish. When we were on the bench, we were happy for them. We were cheering them on."
Meanwhile, Creech was scratching his head afterwards, wondering about the future of his team.
The Broncos' losing streak started Jan. 13, when point guard Cory Fehringer was lost for the season with an ACL injury in an 82-70 loss to Dakota Wesleyan.
"He's a senior, he's savvy and he's a manager," said Creech. "He gets people where they need to be, he's strong with the ball and he's a great foul shooter. If we would have had him the last five minutes tonight, it would have made a difference.
"Our point guard play since has been erratic. We just have to suck it up. We've got too much to play for."
Briar Cliff will host Grace College at 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Hastings (51)
Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP
Derrik Spooner 27 3 7 0 2 1 3 0 7
Kevin Prochaska 27 3 5 0 1 1 2 3 8
Michael Etzelmiller 25 4 10 0 0 2 4 5 12
Kyle Wamsley 17 3 4 2 4 4 0 3 8
Bobby Kempf 27 1 4 1 2 4 1 2 3
Jeremiah Slough 23 1 6 1 1 3 2 2 3
Scott Wissing 29 2 4 0 0 2 1 0 6
Waid Vontz 14 0 2 0 0 2 1 1 0
Derek Fletcher 6 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Jason Zelasney 5 2 3 0 0 2 0 0 4
Cory Fehringer 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Team 3
Totals 200 19 45 4 10 25 14 16 51
Briar Cliff (60)
Min FG-A FT-A RB A PF TP
Brett Ratcliff 35 1 2 0 0 3 5 0 2
Kurt Webb 24 2 7 2 2 0 3 1 7
Adi Cizmic 29 4 10 2 3 4 3 1 10
Neil Rohe 28 5 10 2 2 4 2 1 14
Dehonis Williams 23 1 3 0 0 2 0 3 2
Kelvin Adams 11 2 3 0 0 0 3 2 5
Michael Dickes 12 2 4 2 2 4 2 1 8
Matt Geelan 12 1 2 0 0 3 0 1 2
Derek Mechaelsen 6 2 2 0 0 1 0 3 4
Brock Cooper 16 1 4 4 4 3 0 1 6
Casey Morgan 4 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 0
Team 6
Totals 200 21 47 12 13 31 18 15 60
Score by halves:
Hastings 24 27 51
Briar Cliff 26 34 60
3-point shots Hastings 9-21 (Etzelmiller 4-8, Wissing 2-4, Prochaska 2-3, Spooner 1-3, Slough 0-2, Vontz 0-1); Briar Cliff 6-21 (Dickes 2-3, Rohe 2-7, Adams 1-2, Webb 1-3, Cizmic 0-3, Cooper 0-2, Ratcliff 0-1).
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