With six minutes to go in Sunday's game, the men's basketball teams from Hillsdale College and Malone University stood toe-to-toe, all tied up at 58 apiece. That's when the Chargers found an extra gear and finished off their first-ever weekend sweep in Canton, Ohio.
Hillsdale outscored Malone 18-6 in the final six minutes of the game, coming away with a 76-64 win over the Pioneers. The Chargers won back-to-back games at Walsh and Malone for the first time, and improved to 7-3 overall and 5-1 in the GLIAC. The team is back home this week, hosting Wayne State (Thursday) and Findlay (Saturday).
The run started innocently enough, with two made free throws by junior forward Lucas Grose. But then the defense got stops, and the guard-forward combo of Zach Miller and Kyle Cooper worked some of their magic, and three minutes later, the run was 10-0 and Hillsdale had the win in hand.
Miller was running the team's motion offense expertly, and it resulted in a double-double, to the tune of 12 points and a career-high 13 assists. That assist mark matches Tyler Gerber's total from March 2012, and is the most by a Charger in a game in the past 16 seasons. Miller was smart with his shot selection and ball distribution, and had just two turnovers compared to his 13 assists.
Meanwhile, Cooper was brilliant once again, leading all players with 29 points and 11 rebounds, going 11-for-16 from the field while draining three 3-point field goals. Cooper helped get Hillsdale off to a good start, scoring 10 points in the game's first eight minutes. That good start was key for Hillsdale, who led for more than 80 percent of the game.
Grose had 11 points while Stedman Lowry added 10 as four starters scored in double figures for Hillsdale. After not shooting a single free throw in the first half, Hillsdale helped itself by going 20-for-22 from the free throw line in the game's final 20 minutes.