The 2015-16 season hung in the balance for the Hillsdale College men's basketball Thursday night. A loss to visiting Michigan Tech could be fatal to the team's postseason hopes.
Nick Archer helped make sure that wouldn't happen.
The junior center from Columbus, Ohio helped turn the game with superior effort in the Chargers' 66-61 win over the visiting Huskies at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.
The win breaks a tie in the GLIAC standings with Michigan Tech, and propels Hillsdale to 13-9 overall and 9-9 in the GLIAC.
The Chargers trailed by as many as 15 points late in the first half, and the team's recent pattern of falling behind by double figures in the first half continued. The Huskies went into intermission holding a 37-24 lead.
But the second half saw a Hillsdale team playing with desperation, especially on the defensive end. It was at that end of the floor that Archer started to impact the game. He brought energy from the inside out on the defensive end, which translated to better ball movement and more confidence on the offensive end.
Archer's final stat line of 9 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists, while undoubtedly effective for a player logging 23 minutes off the bench, is not indicative of how much he affected the game. His on-ball defense forced the Huskies into tough, contested shots, and turnovers, which fired up his teammates and the crowd as the comeback mounted.
In the first half, Michigan Tech shot 54 percent from the field, and held at least a 10-point lead over the last five minutes of the half. But the Chargers came out with a more focused and intense defensive effort, forcing three Husky turnovers on their first five possessions of the half.
As late as the 10:49 mark of the second half, Michigan Tech held a 10-point lead. But over those final 10-plus minutes, Hillsdale outscored Michigan Tech 24-9, making one big shot after another.
Senior forward Kyle Cooper scored five straight points as part of an 8-0 run that tied the game up at 54 with 5:58 to go. Fellow senior Zach Miller directed the offense with poise and confidence, and calmly sank a 3-pointer from the top of the key that gave the Chargers the lead for good, 61-58, with 1:50 to go.
Over the game's last 10 minutes, Miller had 5 points and 6 assists.
Right after Miller's three, sophomore Stedman Lowry swished a 3-pointer from the corner to make it a six-point lead, finishing off another 8-0 run.
After shooting just 33 percent in the first half, Hillsdale connected on 60 percent of its shots in the second half (15-for-25) and outscored Michigan Tech 9-1 at the free throw line.
Cooper led all scorers with 25 points, going 8-for-12 from the floor, with 12 rebounds in 39 minutes. Lowry added 14 points and 5 rebounds, and Miller had 7 points and 8 assists in a big-time performance.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: This was Hillsdale's first regular season win over Michigan Tech since Jan. 28, 2012…The Huskies scored 24 fewer points on 3-point shots in this game than they did in the first meeting between the teams back on Jan. 21…The 66 points scored by Hillsdale was its fewest in a win this season…Archer's 23 minutes played were a season-high.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale hosts Northern Michigan University at 3 p.m. Saturday.
PHOTO CREDIT: Kadie Lowery