Matovic Scores Career High as Men's Basketball Fends off Chargers
Hastings, NE – The Hastings College men’s basketball team found itself in a dog fight before building a lead and then holding on for dear life to defeat Briar Cliff 67-65 on Thursday night inside Lynn Farrell Arena.
| Final | 1 | 2 | T |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
31 | 34 | 65 |
|
|
29 | 38 | 67 |
Team Stats
Briar Cliff (IA)
| Game Statistics | Briar Cliff (IA) | Hastings |
|---|---|---|
| Field Goals | (20-51) | (25-53) |
| Field Goal % | 39.2% | 47.2% |
| Rebounds | 28 | 36 |
| Assists | 9 | 12 |
| Turnovers | 6 | 9 |
| Pts off Turnovers | 6 | 9 |
| 2nd Chance Pts | 2 | 12 |
| Pts in the Paint | 16 | 34 |
| Fastbreak Pts | 0 | 0 |
| Bench Pts | 14 | 3 |
Hastings, NE – The Hastings College men's basketball team found itself in a dog fight before building a lead and then holding on for dear life to defeat Briar Cliff 67-65 on Thursday night inside Lynn Farrell Arena.
The Chargers would hold a brief two point lead at 48-46 but Phil Cisrow connected on a layup to tie things up. Then Tyrique McMurrin attacked the rack for a layup to make it 50-48 followed by a tough layup by Reggie Thomas plus the foul as HC now led 53-48 with 9:54 to go. Then Thomas and Danilo Matovic worked the perfect pick and roll as Matovic slammed home the dunk with authority to make it 55-48. The lead then grew to nine points on another Cisrow layup.
Then came a little cat and mouse game as the lead would drop to seven and grow to nine and just hover in this area until the final two minutes of play. The lead was nine following two Thomas free throws but BCU countered with two from Matthew Stillwill. Following an empty possession by the Broncos, Quinn Vesey drained a three to make it 64-60 with 1:09 to go as everyone moved towards the edge of their seats.
Earlier this season, York started playing the possession game fouling Hastings and forcing them to make free throws and that is exactly what BCU did and it nearly paid off.
Thomas would go to the line but would only make 1-for-2 but Briar Cliff would miss a three on the other end as McMurrin would get fouled and do the same as Thomas as the Broncos clung to a 66-60 lead when Jaden Kleinhesselink drained a three to make it a three point game with :12 to play. Cisrow then got fouled but would miss both free throws so Hastings gambled as Grady Corrigan fouled Kleinhesselink so they wouldn't get a three pointer off. He made both free throws as HC now led 66-65. Corrigann would get the in bound but again he would make just 1-for-2 as the door was open for the Chargers with 6.9 seconds to go.
Briar Cliff would go for a quick three from roughly 30 feet out by Conner Groves as he missed badly and then a mad scramble ensued for the rebound as bodies hit the floor. The ball eventually ended up in the hands of Evan Kingston as time ran out and the Broncos survived 67-65.
Thomas led the way with 25 points on 7-for-18 shooting while going 10-for-12 from the charity stripe. Matovic had a career night scoring 19 points on 9-of-13 shooting including burying a deep three that really got the crowd going. Cisrow added nine points on 4-for-5 shooting and Kingston finished with eight points.
For the game Hastings shot 47.2 percent (25-for-53) while the Chargers shot 39.2 percent (20-for-51) but did hit 10 threes compared to just five for the Broncos. HC won the rebounding battle 36-to-28 while the teams combined for just 15 turnovers.
