The Hillsdale College men's basketball team nearly pulled off another miracle Thursday night.
But a tough, gritty effort on the road against a nationally ranked opponent ended with an 85-78 overtime loss to the host Ferris State University Bulldogs, currently ranked 22nd in the latest NABC Division II Top 25 poll.
Hillsdale is now 9-8 overall and 7-6 in the GLIAC, and will be back home Saturday afternoon, hosting arch rival Grand Valley State University at 3 p.m.
Kyle Cooper converted a 3-point play and Stedman Lowry put together a 4-point play on back-to-back possessions to shockingly tie up what was a seven-point Ferris State lead with less than a minute to play. Last Saturday, the Chargers wiped out a six-point deficit with 27 seconds to go to stun Northern Michigan University, 59-58.
But another rabbit-out-of-the-hat victory was barely out of reach for the Chargers. Ferris State trailed for just 31 seconds of overtime, and was able to get just enough stops to stay ahead of Hillsdale as the extra session wore down.
The Bulldogs led 34-31 at halftime, but grabbed momentum right away in the second half, leading by as many as 10 points. FSU held a big edge in turnover margin in the game, negating a 61-percent shooting performance in the opening 20 minutes by the Chargers.
But Cooper and Lowry hoisted the team on their backs, and delivered some outstanding clutch play in the waning seconds of regulation. Each team turned the ball over within the final 4 seconds, but neither could take advantage, forcing the extra five-minute session.
Cooper recorded his 13th double-double of the season, leading the Chargers with 21 points and 14 rebounds on 9-for-15 shooting from the field. Lowry added 20 points, going 5-for-7 from beyond the 3-point arc. Center Nick Archer played a productive and smart game inside, finishing with a career-high tying 13 points.
Junior guard Zach Miller made a huge impact on this game for Hillsdale, running the offense expertly against the aggressive and athletic Bulldog defense. He handed out 16 assists, a career-high and most by any Charger men's basketball player in any game in at least 16 seasons. The school record for assists in one game is 20, set by Rob Fodor all the way back in 1983.
Ferris State enjoyed a huge edge at the free throw line in the game, attempting 29 shots from the charity stripe compared to just 7 by Hillsdale. After committing 14 turnovers in the first half, Hillsdale took much better care of the ball, coughing it up just six times in the entire second half and overtime.