The Hillsdale College men's basketball team has had quite a few dramatic games at home this season. But few can match Thursday night's victory in terms of importance.
The Chargers stayed alive in the race for the GLIAC postseason tournament with a dramatic 74-73 win over Ferris State University at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena. The win, Hillsdale's second in a row, makes the team 12-12 overall and 10-10 in the GLIAC. The Chargers' win, combined with Northwood's overtime loss to Michigan Tech, puts Hillsdale back in the top eight in the conference.
Hillsdale play at Grand Valley State Saturday night before coming home for the regular season finale against Saginaw Valley State next Thursday.
Junior Rhett Smith gently laid in a basket with 25 seconds left in the game to provide the game-winning points. The Charger defense took over from there, stopping the Bulldogs at the most crucial time.
Ferris State drew a foul on its final possession, but it was not a shooting foul. Bulldog guard Drew Lehman, who was absolutely incredible in this game, rightfully had the ball in his hands for the final shot. But Hillsdale's Ian Sheldon played perfect defense on the quick guard, stopping his penetration and keeping him from getting a shot off in a comfortable zone, and forced a miss with one second left to clinch the much-needed win for the Chargers.
The game featured terrific performances from both teams. Lehman simply went wild, scoring 37 points, going 6-for-12 from 3-point land and 14-for-24 from the field overall. Many of his made threes were contested and played well defensively by Hillsdale, Lehman simply buried shot after shot throughout the game.
Nearly matching Lehman's performance was Charger junior Kyle Cooper, who put together a brilliant performance. Cooper poured in 31 points – tied for second-most in a game in his career – to go along with a career-high 17 rebounds in 37 intense minutes on the floor. Cooper displayed the entire offensive repertoire, throwing down dunks, making a pair of 3-pointers, and driving to the basket effectively against the long and athletic Bulldog defense. He was 12-for-19 from the floor and made all five of his free throws, every one of them counting, thanks to the one-point margin in the contest.
Junior guard Zach Miller helped set up Cooper, and many of his teammates with some pinpoint passing in the win. He dished out 15 assists and swiped 2 steals in 33 minutes. Miller also scored 8 points, 3 of which came in a most unlikely fashion, banging in a 3-pointer from mid-court on what appeared initially to be a lob pass early in the second half.
The lead changed 20 times and was tied 10 times, with neither team leading by more than seven points at any part of the contest. Hillsdale shot 57 percent from the field and scored 15 points off 8 Ferris State turnovers.
Smith was 5-for-6 from the field and scored 10 vital points off the bench for the Chargers. Stedman Lowry also scored 10 in the victory.
Photo by Sheridan Markatos