The Hillsdale College men's basketball team had a performance good enough to earn an addition to their banners in the 2019-20 season.
That high level of play also helped several individuals bring home some hardware for the Chargers at Thursday's Great MAC Men's Basketball Awards Banquet in Findlay.
Hillsdale took two of the three major awards, with head coach John Tharp earning GMAC Coach of the Year honors, and forward Patrick Cartier (Brookfield, WI/East) earning GMAC Freshman of the Year honors.
Four Chargers also earned all-conference honors from the GMAC, with Cartier and senior Dylan Lowry (Liberty Township, OH/Lakota East) earning first-team honors and juniors Austen Yarian (Cleveland, OH/Saint Ignatius) and Davis Larson (Sheboygan, WI/North) making the second team.
Hillsdale went 15-3 in GMAC play to tie Findlay for the regular-season crown, its first ever GMAC title and just its second regular season conference title since transitioning from NAIA to NCAA Division II in 1990.
The Chargers won the title despite a season-ending injury to Larson in early February, going 5-1 in their final six games without the dynamic junior guard and beating the rival Oilers 59-54 on Findlay's home floor in the season finale to secure a share of the GMAC crown.
For helping orchestrate Hillsdale's rise to the top of the GMAC standings this season after being picked to finish fourth in the conference in the preseason coaches poll, Tharp was named Coach of the Year in the conference.
Tharp, in his 13th season with the Chargers, has a 230-133 record during his time at Hillsdale, and a 59-29 record since the Chargers joined the GMAC before the 2017-18 season.
In those 13 years, Hillsdale has never finished below .500 and has won 20 or more games three times, with two NCAA Division II tournament appearances, and in three seasons in the GMAC under Tharp, the Chargers have never finished worse than third in the final standings.
Tharp has more wins than any other men's basketball coach in Charger history, and his career winning percentage of .633 with Hillsdale is second all-time among Charger coaches with more than 100 games coached.
The Chargers' regular season title also happened due in no small part to a breakout performance by Cartier, who had one of the most impactful campaigns by a Hillsdale freshman that the program has ever seen in 2019-20.
Cartier, named the GMAC Freshman of the Year on Thursday, shot 64.3 percent from the floor and led Hillsdale in points per game (16.1), rebounds per game (6.1) and blocks per game (0.8) while twice being named GMAC player of the week.
The 6-foot-8 freshman finished the season with seven games of 20 or more points, including a season-high 28 against Lake Erie on Jan. 4.
Cartier was also one of 10 players named to the All-GMAC first team, along with Lowry, who earned his second all-conference honor after making the second team in 2018-19.
Lowry finished his Charger career with a strong 2019-20 campaign, averaging 14.6 points per game and 2.8 assists per game. The senior was a dependable scorer for Hillsdale, scoring in double figures in 23 of the Chargers' 28 games, with a season-best of 26 at Trevecca Nazarene on Feb. 6.
On Feb. 20, Lowry became the 38th Charger men's basketball player to surpass 1,000 points for his career, joining his older brother, Stedman, who played from 2014-18, on that exclusive list. Dylan's 1,067 career points rank him 33rd on the all-time scoring list at Hillsdale.
If not for his early February injury, Larson might have joined Cartier and Lowry on the first team. The junior was having a great season through 21 games, averaging 13 points and five rebounds per game for the Chargers while also playing a critical role defensively.
The honor is Larson's second All-GMAC honor, after earning a first team nod last year as well.
Yarian had a breakout season in his first full year as a starter for the Chargers, averaging 11.3 points and 5.9 rebounds in 27 games to earn a spot on the All-GMAC second team.
The junior twice scored 23 points to lead Hillsdale, at Malone on Jan. 25 and at home against Tiffin on Feb. 22, and also had a 17 point, 13 rebound double-double at Tiffin on Jan. 9.
Photo: MaryKate Drews