Sophomore guard Stedman Lowry set career-highs with eight made 3-point baskets and 31 points, as the Charger men's basketball team rolled to its four straight win, 90-75, over Wayne State University Thursday night in Detroit.
Hillsdale is now 9-2 overall and 5-2 in the GLIAC after notching its first road conference win of the young season.
Lowry put on an incredible shooting performance in this game, particularly in the first half when he went 7-for-8 from 3-point land and scored 24 of his 31 points. He smartly read screens, and his teammates made precision passes that allowed Lowry to find that elusive "zone" that all shooters seek.
With 5:42 left in the first half, Wayne State held a 28-27 lead, the score being emblematic of the back-and-forth nature of the game's first 14 minutes. But the Chargers closed out the half on a 20-8 run, sparked by five of Lowry's eight 3-point baskets.
The lead quickly grew to 20 in the second half, when a 16-7 run was led by senior forward Kyle Cooper, who went to work after Lowry gashed the Warriors with his shooting in the first. Cooper scored 7 points in the 16-7 spurt.
The Chargers led by as many as 32 in the second half before Wayne State tightened the final score late in the second half.
Cooper finished with 25 points, 14 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, going 10-for-16 from the floor. He extended his GLIAC scoring lead, and has seven 20-point games on the season. He also has a streak of four straight games shooting 56 percent or better from the field.
As a team, Hillsdale shot 50 percent from the 3-point arc (16-for-32), with Cooper going 4-for-6 from that spot of the court. The Chargers shot 53 percent from the floor overall while holding the Warriors to 38 percent shooting.
Senior guard Zach Miller tied a season-high with 12 assists, while sophomore guard Ryan Badowski scored 10 points. Freshman Nate Neveau had 9 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists in 24 minutes off the bench.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: In points scored outside the paint, Hillsdale held a 64-39 scoring edge on the Warriors…The Charger starters outscored Wayne State's starters 74-46…Lowry's previous career-high in scoring was 27, set earlier this season against St. Joseph's, and he had three games of making six 3-point baskets…Hillsdale's single-game school record for 3-pointers made in a game is 10 by Tim Homan, set during the 2007-08 season.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale heads to the Croy Gymnasium at the University of Findlay for a 3:00 matchup Saturday against the Oilers.
PHOTO CREDIT: Jim Drews