The Hillsdale College men's basketball team battled back from a 17-point second half deficit to cut the lead to five, but ultimately couldn't keep pace with a hot-shooting Malone team in a 85-68 road loss on Thursday.
The Pioneers jumped on the Chargers early with a 46 point first half, shooting 48.3 percent from the floor for the game. Key to Malone's offensive efficiency was success at the free throw line, as the Pioneers got there often, with 23 attempts, and converted them at a high percentage, with 20 makes for an 87.3 percent rate.
Hillsdale weathered the early storm, scoring 35 first half points of their own and cutting the Malone lead to two possessions in the second half with 8:54 to play thanks to a mini-run by senior Austen Yarian, who scored eight points in quick succession, including two 3-pointers, to cut into the deficit.
But the Chargers couldn't get any closer than that as Malone answered every attempt at a run the Chargers had in the final eight minutes, and pulled away late at the free throw line.
Yarian finished with 16 points and five rebounds to lead the Chargers on the night, junior Patrick Cartier chipped in 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, and junior Kyle Goessler added 14 points, four assists and two steals.
Freshman Joe Reuter added 11 points off the bench for Hillsdale, helping the Chargers stay in the game in the first half when Malone went on its first big scoring run. Junior Cole Nau chipped in five points and four assists as well for Hillsdale, and junior Jack Gohlke finished with five points and three assists.
The Chargers made just one less field goal on the night, 28 to Malone's 29, but shot just six free throws, making four of them. Hillsdale also got battered on the boards, grabbing just 23 rebounds to Malone's 42, and that showed in the final score as the Pioneers got 11 second chance points to Hillsdale's two.
Hillsdale is now 15-6 overall, 10-5 in the G-MAC, and has another tough game against the other G-MAC co-leader, Walsh, on the road on Saturday for their next contest. As challenging as the game is, it's also an opportunity for the Chargers to stay alive in a G-MAC title race that is far from finished with several games left to play and several teams in the mix.
Photo by Summer Fields