The opening game of this weekend's road trip did not go as hoped for the Hillsdale College men's basketball team.
After leading much of regulation, the Chargers lost a 60-51 decision in overtime to host Wisconsin-Parkside Friday night. The loss drops Hillsdale to 1-2 on the season.
Regulation was a grind-it-out, low-scoring affair as the teams ended up tied at 43-43 after 40 minutes of play. The Rangers came out and scored seven quick points to take a 50-43 lead less than three minutes into overtime, and never trailed afterwards.
The early OT lead forced Hillsdale into a fouling situation, and Parkside cashed in, making 11 of 13 from the charity stripe as a team in the extra session to keep its lead all the way thorugh. The Rangers' 11 free throw makes and 13 attempts in the five-minute overtime were more free throws than the Chargers made (six) and attempted (nine) in the entire game.
Hillsdale shot 32 percent from the floor for the game, and was 5-for-16 from 3-point land.
Senior guard Dylan Lowry led Hillsdale with 12 points and 9 rebounds. Davis Larson set a single-game career-high with 8 assists to go with 6 points and 8 rebounds. Freshman forward Patrick Cartier had 10 points, 7 rebounds and a career-high 4 blocked shots, and guard Connor Hill had 11 points and 3 assists.
PHOTO: MaryKate Drews