BCU/Morningside

Well, it's that time again, when our Briar Cliff Chargers have to face our "friends" from across town, the Morningside CHIEFS (oops, I forgot they got rid of that name back in the 90s and are now the Mustangs).

When you think about it, our little rivalry with M'side (and any of you that know me know that I have a few different names I call that school that I can't use on this blog) is one of those rare ones in sports. There are not too many rivalries where the two teams are located so close to each other that they are actually in the same zip code and within 10 miles of each other.

When I think of this rivalry in the sport of basketball, my sophomore year (2007-08) is the first year I think of. The reason is simple, we played Morningside three times that year, our traditional two matchups with them in the regular season, and once in the GPAC Tournament semifinals.

Going into the basketball matchups, we had not defeated the Mustangs in any sport during the fall season, the closest opportunities coming in the two volleyball matches where BCU blew a 2-0 lead in games TWICE and in a 1-1 draw by the men's soccer team, and the wrestling team had been blown out in the first duel of the season. The basketball season had some added intensity because BCU guard Ian Banks had transferred to Morningside that summer and although he was required to sit out one season he was still looked on as a traitor by all of us BCU diehard fans.

The first game was played at the Newman Flanagan Center one week after BCU went on Thanksgiving break so only myself and a handful of BCU students were there to watch. The Chargers played well, but Morningside pulled away at the end to win by 12. The main memory I have about that game is the Morningside students at the game chanting "BC-Who" and the huge grin on Ian Banks' face, which made me feel sick.

As the season went on, BCU was beginning to make their presence known to the nation as an up and coming team. Less than a week after the M'side game, they came within a missed Neil Rohe buzzer-beater of defeating #1 MidAmerica Nazarene, and took nationally ranked Bellevue down to the wire. They were also winning GPAC games left and right leading up to the highly awaited rematch vs. Morningside at their house (this was the year before the two schools agreed to move one of the games to Tyson Event Center).

For this game, every diehard Charger fan in the student body crossed the border between the two schools and brought the noise with them (something that the BLUE CREW has lacked in the past two games at HOME). This time BCU was actually staying ahead of the Mustangs who were now ranked #1 in the nation and were undeafeted.

But then something happened that will live on in BCU/Morningside lore for years. With under 10 seconds left in regulation, Briar Cliff had a 3 point lead. Morningside heaved a couple of three point shots that missed but the ball got tipped back to Morningside's Johnson (sorry I can't remember his first name) who shot the ball falling into the crowd just as the buzzer sounded and, in what can only be described as a miracle shot, hit it to send the game to overtime.

The overtime was all Morningside because our boys were just out of gas after that miracle shot went in and Morningside cruised to win and lost only one game the rest of the season to win the GPAC regular season title.

For Briar Cliff, the rest of the regular season was pretty good, but they just couldn't seem to crack the Top 25 because they would lose at the wrong time. Going into the GPAC Tournament, all of us knew that BCU would have to win the whole thing to make the NAIA Divison II tournament in Branson. After a lopsided victory at home vs. Midland, the Chargers pulled out a nailbiter in Sioux Center against Dordt which set up another rematch with Morningside in the GPAC semifinals.

There many things that I will never forget about that day. The first thing was that Briar Cliff was on a break at the time and the dorms would not open until the next afternoon, but all of the best fans that led the BLUE CREW throughout the season were at the game. This included some that returned early from Chicago, Texas etc, and some of the greatest fans Briar Cliff has ever had, Jason "J-Man" Pulliam, Travis Schumacher, Nick West, Jesse Parra, Roger Sandau, and others. This game was a battle like the other two games and, just like the second matchup, came down to the final seconds.

Once again BCU had a three point lead with less than 10 seconds to play and once again Morningside had the last possession. This time however, the Mustangs didn't get a clear shot, the player who shot the ball had to split two Charger defenders and missed. The Morningside fans wanted a foul called on one of the two Charger defenders, but it didn't matter because HIS FOOT WAS ON THE LINE and the shot wouldn't have been enough to tie the game. As soon as the shot missed and the buzzer sounded, all I can remember is, since I was standing in the second row, pushing the student in front of me so I could get on the MORNINGSIDE court to celebrate with the rest of the BCU students and players who were already on the floor.

Even though that BCU team didn't make the NAIA Tournament, those matchups with Morningside were as good as any fan could ask for.

I'm DK and that's the 411