Let the madness begin.
Two of the GLIAC's hottest teams will collide in a conference tournament quarterfinal game Tuesday night, as the Hillsdale College Chargers face top-seeded Ferris State University in Big Rapids. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
The Chargers qualified for the postseason tournament as the No. 8 seed, rolling into the playoffs having won eight of their past nine games. Rarely does an eight-seed come into a postseason tournament playing as well as Hillsdale is.
However, a big test awaits the Chargers. The Bulldogs completed an outstanding regular season, going 24-4 and 18-3 in the GLIAC. FSU is led by 6-foot-10 center Zach Hankins, the GLIAC rebounding champ.
This is the first postseason meeting between these longtime GLIAC rivals since 1995.
Ferris State defeated Hillsdale 87-73 in their only regular season meeting, back on Dec. 10 in Hillsdale. Hankins, a favorite for GLIAC Player of the Year, had 22 points, nine rebounds, four assists and four blocked shots in that game. That loss was the fifth in a row for Hillsdale at the time, continuing what would end up becoming a six-game losing streak. But this is a different Chargers team than the one Ferris State manhandled two months ago.
Five days after that Ferris State game, the Chargers lost on the road to Michigan Tech, dropping their record to 4-7 overall. But the season started to turn around two days later, with a hard-fought 71-65 win at Northern Michigan Dec. 17.
Since that loss to Tech, Hillsdale is 11-4, and has scored 80 or more points in eight of those 15 games. Hillsdale has a terrific group of shooters, led by junior guards Stedman Lowry and Ryan Badowski. Lowry is averaging 14.8 points per game ans has made 79 3-point field goals this season, fourth-most in a season in school history. Lowry has two games of nine made 3-pointers this season.
Badowski finished the regular season fourth in the GLIAC in 3-point shooting percentage (.451) and has been playing his best basketball of late. He's eclipsed the 20-point barrier in three of his last seven games, and made eight 3-point baskets in a win over Lake Erie Feb. 16. Two players who can shoot the ball like Lowry and Badowski can serve as a great equalizer in a matchup like this.
One player who has vastly improved during the season is sophomore center Nick Czarnowski. He finished the regular season leading the GLIAC in field goal percentage (.667). As of January 14, Czarnowski had no games of 10 or more points scored in his career. Since then, he's averaged 13 points per game, scoring nine or more in all nine games since then. He's strong and is an effective finisher around the basket.
Czarnowski and his teammates will be tested on the defensive end of the floor. The Bulldogs were the best offensive team in the GLIAC this season, leading the conference in average points per game (88.1), field goals made and attempted per game (32.2/66.4), free throws made per game (16.6) and rebounds per game (41.4). Ferris State plays fast, hard and with athleticism, a deadly combination.
The GLIAC Tournament semifinals and finals will take place March 4-5 at the site of the highest remianing seed after the completion of Tuesday's quarterfinal games.