Playing one of the top teams in Division II on the road is not usually a fun task for any visiting team. The Charger men's basketball team faced just such a task in the form of Ferris State University Thursday evening.
Hillsdale suffered its first loss of the season, 77-58, to the Bulldogs at Jim Wink Arena in a non-league contest. The loss makes the Chargers 3-1 on the season while FSU improved to 5-0.
Through Thursday's first half, Hillsdale was up to the challenge presented by Ferris State, as the teams nearly matched each other through the game's first 20 minutes. The Bulldogs inched ahead by intermission, 35-33, as the Chargers used steady 3-point shooting to keep pace. Freshmen Austen Yarian and Davis Larson combined for 11 points off the bench in the first half to keep the Chargers even with the Bulldogs.
With eight minutes to go in the first half, Hillsdale held a 25-20 lead after a Nick Czarnowski layup. But Ferris State outscored the Chargers 15-8 to end the half, and halftime did nothing to slow the Bulldogs' momentum.
Ferris State went on a 19-0 run to blow a two-point game wide open in a six-minute span in the second half. It was a run from which Hillsdale could not recover.
The Bulldogs held the Chargers to 38 percent shooting from the field (23-for-61), while Ferris State connected on 55 percent of its shots in the game. The Bulldogs also held a 42-29 edge on the boards and had five players score between 9 and 13 points.
Senior Stedman Lowry led all scorers with 18 points for Hillsdale, going 4-for-5 from 3-point territory. Nick Czarnowski had 10 and 4 rebounds while Yarian scored a career-high 8 off the bench for Hillsdale.