Monday's game at Lake Erie wasn't a pretty one for the Hillsdale College men's basketball team.
But thanks to another determined defensive effort, it was a 59-51 win for the 23rd-ranked Chargers -- and that's ultimately what matters.
Hillsdale led the game from start to finish despite shooting just 35.9 percent from the floor, by far its worst mark of the season, by forcing the host Storm into a nearly equally bad 37 percent shooting percentage from the field and harassing Lake Erie into 16 turnovers.
Those turnovers led to 14 Charger points in transition, helping Hillsdale generate offense on a night where neither team could get their shots to fall consistently.
Senior guard Connor Hill led the Chargers on the night with a full stat sheet, finishing with 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the floor, six rebounds, three assists and two steals, and sophomore center Patrick Cartier added 13 points and six rebounds as well.
Senior Austen Yarian also impacted the game in multiple ways for Hillsdale, chipping in 10 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals, and senior Davis Larson added 10 points to give the Chargers four double-figure scorers on the night.
Sophomore Tavon Brown chipped in five points, 10 rebounds and two blocks for the Chargers, who jumped out to an early 8-0 lead and led by as many as 16 early in the second half before Lake Erie made a late run to get back in the game.
The Storm closed to within five with 16 seconds to play, but Kyle Goessley hit two free throws with 13 seconds remaining to seal the victory for Hillsdale.
With the victory, Hillsdale improves to 4-1 on the year and in G-MAC play ahead of a big conference clash on Friday night with Walsh (1-0, 1-0 G-MAC) at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena. The Cavaliers won the G-MAC tournament title last season and are one of just two unbeaten teams remaining in conference play, so a victory at home could pay big dividends down the road in the G-MAC title race for the Cavaliers.
Photo: Tavon Brown. Photo by MaryKate Drews.