The Hillsdale College men's basketball team wasn't content being just window dressing for the University of Michigan's season opener and banner-raising day Saturday afternoon.
The Chargers made the Wolverines work and sweat in a game Michigan pulled away to win in the second half 92-68 at Crisler Arena. Hillsdale gets its season officially started Tuesday, Nov. 25 in a non-conference game at Cedarville.
This was the regular season opener for the 24th-ranked Wolverines, and was a day where they raised their first outright Big Ten championship banner since 1986. As impressive as the pre-gamebanner ceremony was, the Chargers opened the game going right at Michigan.
Keyed by an eye-opening shooting display by redshirt-freshman Stedman Lowry, Hillsdale stormed out to a 15-6 lead in the game's opening minutes. Lowry poured in 13 first-half points and hit three 3-point baskets, including one that was nearly five feet beyond the arc.
Hillsdale played with no fear of this Division I foe and led as late as the 11:25 mark of the first half after a jumper by sophomore center Nick Archer, which made the score 19-17.
However, Michigan took over from there, scoring 33 points in the final 10-plus minutes of the half thanks to their ability to space the floor, make 3-pointers, and disrupt Hillsdale's passing lanes. The Wolverines led 50-33 at halftime, and were 9-for-14 from the 3-point stripe in the game's opening 20 minutes.
The Chargers came back impressively to open the second half, going on an 8-0 run that whittled UM's lead from 18 to 10 after a 3-pointer by junior Kyle Cooper. Once again, Michigan then overwhelmed Hillsdale with its superior size, speed and athleticism, pulling away from there.
Cooper was outstanding in this game, scoring 21 of his game-high 28 points in the second half. He went 11-for-19 from the floor, made four 3-point field goals, and had 10 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots.
Lowry finished with 15 points in his collegiate debut, and junior center Jason Pretzer added 7. Junior Zach Miller dished out 7 assists for the Chargers.
Photo by Jim Drews