An incredibly accurate and prolific number of first-half 3-point field goals by Northwood University doomed the Hillsdale College men's basketball team Thursday night.
The Timberwolves went 1-for-10 on 2-point shots and 14-for-21 on 3-point shots in the first half of a 75-60 win over the Chargers in Midland. The loss is a costly one for Hillsdale, who falls to 12-8 overall and 8-8 in the GLIAC, and creates a tie in the overall standings with Northwood. The teams split their regular season meetings.
In the game's opening six minutes, all eight of Northwood's field goal attempts were 3-pointers, and seven of them went in, creating an 18-4 NU lead very quickly. The lead grew to 24 early in the second half, though the Chargers had one run left in them.
Sophomore guard Stedman Lowry made 3-pointers on three consecutive possessions to slice the deficit to 14, 57-43, with 11 minutes to go. But Northwood counter-punched effectively, and put the game away with suffocating defense.
The 14 3-pointers Northwood made in the first half were tied for the most allowed by Hillsdale in an entire game for the season. The Timberwolves did cool off in the second half, making just two from beyond the arc, but shot 16-for-30 overall, a 53.3 percent clip.
Offense was a struggle all night for Hillsdale. The Chargers shot 36 percent from the floor, were 11-for-29 from 3-point land, and shot just nine free throws as a team, making five. Leading scorer Kyle Cooper was held to a season-low 7 on 3-for-11 shooting.
Lowry scored a team-high 18 points for Hillsdale, while Ryan Badowski added 12.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale makes its second trip to the Upper Peninsula in three weeks with a game at Lake Superior State at 3 p.m. Saturday.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jim Drews