GLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament Webpage
Charger Men's Basketball Game Notes
After a one-year absence, the Hillsdale College men's basketball team is back in the postseason, and will make its third trip across the Mackinac Bridge to begin March Madness.
The Chargers, the No. 5 seed in the GLIAC Men's Basketball Tournament, will face No. 4-seeded Lake Superior State at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the Bud Cooper Gymnasium on LSSU's campus in Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan.
The Lakers earned the No. 4 seed thanks to its 96-94 win over Northwood on the final night of the regular season Feb. 25. They were able to hold off the Chargers, who finished the season on a five-game winning streak, capped by a 72-62 win at North Division champion Saginaw Valley State on that same night.
LSSU finished 14-8 in the GLIAC this season compared to 13-9 for Hillsdale. In many ways, the GLIAC has never been as tough or more balanced as it was this season, as shown by the Lakers' combination of finishing second place in the North Division despite eight conference losses. That says less for LSSU, a tough, hard-nosed and talented team, than it does for how deep the conference was.
This matchup figures to be every bit as competitive as a 4-5 game tends to be in any basketball tournament. The two teams split their regular season matchups, each winning at home. The Chargers rallied from a 16-point second-half deficit back on Jan. 16 in a thrilling 82-80 home win over the Lakers. LSSU gained a measure of revenge in the rematch on Feb. 6, handing the Chargers their most lopsided loss of the season 87-60.
But Hillsdale hasn't lost since then, having rediscovered its winning formula of strong defense, plus-side rebounding and balanced, responsible offense.
As is consistent with how strong the GLIAC was this year, this 4-5 game features the top two scorers in the conference matching up against one another.
On Hillsdale's side is GLIAC Player of the Year Kyle Cooper. A 6-foot-7 senior forward who has been a starter for three years, Cooper has the total package on offense. He led the conference in 3-point shooting percentage, led it in scoring at 22.8 points per game, and shot 56 percent from the floor overall. Cooper's 9.7 rebounds per game ranked second in the GLIAC, but when you combine the fact that Cooper was 10th in the GLIAC in overall field goal percentage, while leading the conference in scoring and total field goals made (174), you have a player who operates with a peak combination of efficiency and productivity.
Lake Superior State can counter with a deadly forward of its own in the form of Devin Daly. He was second in the GLIAC in scoring, 9th in field goal percentage, and 5th in rebounding average (8.4). Daly set the GLIAC single-game scoring record back on Feb. 1 with 49 points in a 112-111 loss at Northwood. Daly is a powerful inside player who consistently gets good post position and finishes extremely well.
These teams last met in the GLIAC Tournament's first round in 2010, at Hillsdale, a game that saw the Chargers come away with a 78-68 win.
The winner of the Hillsdale-LSSU game will face the winner of top-seeded Saginaw Valley State versus No. 8 seed Walsh game in Saturday's tournament semifinal.
The semifinals and finals will be held at the campus site of the highest remaining seed after the completion of Tuesday's first-round games. The GLIAC Tournament Championship Game is set for Sunday afternoon.