Men's Basketball Outlasts Briar Cliff in Four Overtimes

Men's Basketball outlasted Briar Cliff in one of the more memorable battles in program history on Saturday afternoon in Crete. The Tigers defeated the Chargers in quadruple overtime, 105-102. The game ties for the longest game in program history, joining the Doane/Peru State game from January 19, 1963, that was won by the Bobcats, 110-107.

Regulation would prove to be a low-scoring affair. Briar Cliff led at halftime, 30-28, and the game was tied after 40 minutes, 61-all.

There were five lead changes in the opening seven minutes of the first half. The fifth lead change went to Doane as they used a 7-0 run to take a 15-9 lead with 11:52 to play in the half. The Tigers led by seven points, 28-21, with 3:44 to play in the half but would go scoreless the rest of the way as Briar Cliff closed the half on a 9-0 run to lead by two points at the break.

The Chargers extended their lead to six points early in the second half, 34-28, only to give up an 8-0 run to the Tigers as Doane regained the lead, 36-34. Neither team would lead by more than three points until Briar Cliff strung together an 8-0 run to regain the lead late, 61-56, with 24 seconds left. Doane pulled within three points on a basket by River Johnston with 18 seconds left and the Chargers made an errant pass on the inbounds to give the Tigers the ball back. Brady Timm knocked down a 3-point basket with 13 seconds to go to tie the game and force overtime.

In the first overtime, Doane was able to take a 3-point lead with 2:55 to play. Briar Cliff came back and behind a 6-0 run, the Chargers led by four points, 72-68, with 25 seconds to go. Timm drove to the basket, scored, and was fouled with 12 seconds left. The three-point play pulled the Tigers within a point. Briar Cliff made 1-of-2 free throws and Timm went the length of the court and scored on a layup with two seconds left to extend the game.

Briar Cliff scored the first four points of the second overtime. Doane then went on an 8-0 run and led 81-77 with 20 seconds to play. The Chargers hit a 3-point basket with 16 seconds left and Doane converted 1-of-2 free throws to maintain a two-point lead. Briar Cliff's Matthew Stilwill hit a jumper in the lane with four seconds left to force a third overtime, tied at 82-all.

Doane had an answer for each Charger basket early in the third overtime. Briar Cliff was able to break an 86-all tie with a free throw and a subsequent 3-point basket to take a 90-86 lead. Cooper Sheldon scored for the Tigers to pull within two points with 1:16 to play and Timm forced a fourth overtime with a tying basket with five seconds left. Briar Cliff nearly ended the game but missed a layup just before time expired with the score knotted up at 90-all.

In the fourth overtime, Briar Cliff was held to one field goal. However, they were able to make 10 free throws in the final five minutes of action. Doane turned to Timm who scored 11 points in the stanza. A big shot for the Tigers came from Nick Saiz, who hit a 3-point basket with 1:26 to play for a 99-97 lead. BCU's lone field goal tied the game at 99-all but Timm would score on another old-fashioned three-point play to give the Tigers the lead for good.

Timm led all scorers in the game with a career-high 41 points on 14-of-25 shooting to go with five assists. Johnston added a career-high 26 points on 9-of-18 shooting and pulled in six rebounds. Sheldon finished with a double-double, posting 13 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. Caleb Hrabik notched 10 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

Doane will travel to Seward on Wednesday, January 10, to take on Concordia at 7:45 PM.