As season openers go, they don't get much bigger than this.
Playing a team ranked in the top 10 on the road on a weeknight, the deck was stacked against the Hillsdale College men's basketball team. But the Chargers showed strength in the face of this challenge, defeating 8th-ranked University of Indianapolis 92-87 in a breathlessly thrilling contest at Nicoson Hall in Indiana.
This game featured wild momentum swings, for both teams, from start to finish. But Hillsdale showed experience, grit and character at withstanding the Greyhounds' multiple runs to come away with a big, big regional and road win.
Hillsdale took a commanding 42-29 lead at halftime, only to see UIndy whittle away at that lead and eventually, erase it completely. The Hounds took their first lead of the game, 61-60, with 8:29 left, only to see the Chargers respond impressively.
After the score was 64-63, Hillsdale went on a 19-5 run over the next five minutes by relying on their best offensive players, Stedman Lowry and Kyle Cooper. They combined for 17 of Hillsdale's 19 points in that run, which opened up an 82-69 lead.
But the Greyhounds had one last burst in them as Eric Davidson made 3-pointers 32 seconds apart that sliced the 12-point lead in half. But Indianapolis missed its last three 3-point attempts from the field in the game's waning moments, preventing another comeback.
Cooper, who scored 41 points in last season's season opener, was brilliant in this one, finishing with 32 points on 12-for-17 shooting from the field. He blocked 3 shots, grabbed 10 rebounds and hit a pair of 3-point shots in a sublime effort.
Lowry, who celebrated his 22nd birthday, drained four 3-pointers on his way to 22 points in the win. He also grabbed a career-high 8 rebounds in 37 minutes played.
Senior center Jason Pretzer played a big part in the team's good start, finishing with 13 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Sophomore guard Ryan Badowski scored 11 and grabbed 4 boards, while senior guard Zach Miller dished out 9 assists to go along with 7 points.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jim Drews