Winning an outright conference championship in college basketball is extremely hard to do.
Just ask Hillsdale College men's coach John Tharp.
In 13 years at Hillsdale prior to this one, a run that's included 230 wins, two NCAA Tournament appearances, three All-American players, zero losing seasons and a shared Great Midwest Athletic Conference crown in 2019-20, Tharp had won just one, in 2011-12.
Now, thanks to a dominant performance by the 2020-21 Charger squad, Tharp and Hillsdale finally get to add another undisputed trophy to the case.
The Chargers beat visiting Ohio Valley 107-66 on Saturday to win their 14th-straight game, improve to 17-1 overall and in G-MAC play, and clinch the 2020-21 regular season G-MAC championship.
Hillsdale dominated the contest from start to finish, shooting 65.5% from the floor, 48% from 3-point range and holding the Fighting Scots to nearly nine points below their season average with a solid defensive effort.
The Chargers had four different players score in double-figures for the sixth-straight game, led by sophomore Patrick Cartier, who finished with 22 points on 9 of 12 shooting for his 10th 20-plus point game of the season.
Senior Connor Hill continued his strong recent run for the Chargers with 20 points, five assists and three steals to play a major role in the win as well. Hill has now scored 20 or more points in three of Hillsdale's last four games.
Sophomore Kyle Goessler chipped in 13 points and six rebounds off the bench as well for the Chargers, while senior Austen Yarian added an efficient 12 points and also dished out seven assists, and senior Davis Larson chipped in nine points and six assists.
The Chargers got a huge night from their bench in the victory, with reserves contributing 41 points. Along with Goessler, redshirt freshman Noah Applegate chipped in nine points and sophomore Jack Gohlke added seven.
Hillsdale's 107 points were a season high, surpassing an earlier 106-76 road victory over Ohio Valley on Dec. 17. It's the most points by a Charger men's basketball team since Hillsdale's 115-60 win over U of M-Dearborn on Nov. 24, 2010.
The G-MAC title is just the fifth regular season conference title won by the Chargers in the postwar era, though three of those five have come in the last 14 years under Tharp -- the outright GLIAC title in 2011-12, the shared G-MAC title last year, and the outright one this season.
Prior to World War II, Hillsdale won one outright MIAA title and shared three more, making this the ninth conference championship for the Chargers in school history regardless of era.
Hillsdale wraps up the regular season next week by traveling to Tiffin on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., and hosting Cedarville on Saturday at 3 p.m. While the Chargers have secured the conference title and have virtually locked down the top seed in the G-MAC tournament, there's still plenty to play for. Only six teams in each region will make the NCAA Tournament this year, meaning northing is guaranteed for the Chargers and every win in the final week and in the conference tournament will help their resume as Hillsdale looks to return to the Big Dance for the first time since 2017-18.
Photo by Anthony Lupi
