One of the keys to the success of the Hillsdale College men's basketball team this season has been its offensive balance. Teams can't key on any one player, and one of many players on the Hillsdale roster can step up and make key plays.
A prime example of that was Thursday night.
There was a dominant stretch of inside play by freshman Patrick Cartier. There was a monstrous follow-up slam dunk by Trenton Richardson that energized the crowd and the bench. There was the cold-blooded shooting of senior Dylan Lowry, who wrote himself into the record books on this night.
Add it all up and you have a well-earned 75-67 Charger win over a Cedarville University team that had come into the night on an eight-game winning streak. Hillsdale is now 17-8 overall and 13-3 in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference.
With a short jumper early in the first half, Lowry scored his 1,000th career point. He is the 38th player in Charger men's basketball history to hit that mark, coming on Senior Day Week. But those were his only points in the first half, where he shot an uncharacteristic 1-for-6 from the floor.
But the splendid play of Cartier helped the Chargers to a 36-31 halftime lead. Cedarville appeared content to not double team Cartier in the post, and he took full advantage, making his first six consecutive shots from the floor and finished with 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the floor. Early in the second half, he racked up one layup after another and was in a terrific rhythm.
However, Cedarville has shown the grit and resiliency of champions this season, rallying from deep deficits time and time again to pull out victories. Some of that was on display midway through the second half when it went on a 17-8 run to flip a five-point deficit into a 60-56 lead with 8:52 to go.
However, Hillsdale's league-leading defense took over from there, clamping down on the Cedarville offense, which had been averaging 83 points per game coming in. The Yellow Jackets scored just 7 points over the game's final 8:52, while Hillsdale chipped away, regained momentum and the lead.
Momentum appeared to turn on a high-flying offensive rebound dunk by Richardson that made it a 60-59 game with 6:46 to go. The highlight reel play clearly upped Hillsdale's intensity the rest of the way.
Lowry then went to work, hitting shots from all angles over the game's final seven minutes. His fall-away 3-pointer with 1:56 to go, near the shot clock buzzer, was a kill-shot, giving Hillsdale a 69-64 lead.
Lowry scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half, going 7-for-14 from the field. Austen Yarian had 10 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists for the Chargers, who kept pace with first-place Findlay with the win.
PHOTO: MaryKate Drews