Everything was stacked against the Hillsdale College men's basketball team Tuesday night. The Chargers had to open the postseason by making a third trip over the Mackinac Bridge, to return to a venue where it suffered its worst loss of the regular season.
None of that mattered.
Playing with unbelievable offensive balance, the Chargers won in the GLIAC Tournament for the first time in four years, 97-73, over host Lake Superior State University at the Bud Cooper Gymnasium.
Hillsdale, now 18-9 overall and winners of six straight, advances to the conference tournament semifinal Saturday against No. 8 seed Walsh University at Ashland. Tuesday's first round saw the lower-seeded team win three of the four games, with Ashland the only favorite to win.
The team put together a second half for the ages, putting up 62 points, while shooting 61.8 percent from the field and getting huge performances from all across the roster.
Six players scored in double figures and six different players hit 3-point shots. Primary among them was seven-foot center Jason Pretzer, who played the biggest part in the Chargers making the decisive run of the game.
Pretzer scored 14 points in a four-minute stretch early in the second half that saw Hillsdale go from trailing by three to leading by nine. By the 11:45 mark of the second half, Hillsdale's lead had ballooned to 16 and the Lakers would get no closer.
But it didn't always look rosy for the Chargers. Lake Superior State jumped out to an 18-6 lead in the game's first 6:40. Freshman guard Nate Neveau stepped up in a critical time early in the game, making 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to keep the game from getting away. Pretzer's first points of the game came after Neveau's shots, and the game was on.
Hillsdale outrebounded Lake Superior State 37-29 and limited the Lakers to 7-for-22 shooting from 3-point territory. Hillsdale was 12-for-32 on threes, and was plus-11 from the free throw line (17-6).
Pretzer finished with 18 points, going 7-for-10 from the floor and 4-for-7 on 3-point shots. Senior point guard Zach Miller, who previously set his career high in the Chargers' regular season win over LSSU, scored 19 while dishing out 14 assists, second-most he's had in a game in his career.
Senior forward Kyle Cooper, the GLIAC Player of the Year, shared team scoring honors with Miller with 19 points to go along with 15 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 assists and 2 steals. One of the great seasons and careers in program history, will get at least one more game.
Neveau added 17 points in 31 minutes off the bench, and sophomore Stedman Lowry tossed in 10, making two big 3-pointers in the second half to help keep momentum on the Chargers' side. Junior center Nick Archer also contributed 10 points, meaning Hillsdale got 28 points from the center position in the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: This game had a 36-point swing, from Hillsdale's biggest deficit to its final margin of victory…The last time the Chargers won a GLIAC Tournament game was March 4, 2012 when it beat Michigan Tech 86-62 at home in the semifinals…On Feb. 6, the Chargers lost to LSSU in Sault Ste. Marie 87-60, its worst loss of the regular season; Hillsdale hasn't lost since then.
UP NEXT: No. 5 seed Hillsdale vs. No. 8 seed Walsh at Ashland, time TBA
PHOTO CREDIT: Kadie Lowery