In a matchup between the G-MAC's top offense and the G-MAC's top defense, it was the #7/9 Hillsdale College men's basketball team's defense that prevailed.
The Chargers held host Cedarville 24 points below its season average, pulling away late for a 72-60 road victory against a potential G-MAC title contender in a huge early season result.
Hillsdale's league-leading defense was the difference. Cedarville entered the game shooting a league best 48.4% from the floor and averaging a G-MAC leading 11.5 3-pointers per game, but got nowhere near those marks, shooting just 39% on field goals against Hillsdale's tenacious defense, including a season-worst 6 for 28 from 3-point range.
That played right into the hands of the Chargers, who defanged Cedarville's transition attack, conceding just five fast-break points, and forced the Yellow Jackets into a physical, grinding half-court game that fed into Hillsdale's strengths.
Offensively, the Chargers overcame a slow start with balanced scoring and timely shot-making. Hillsdale trailed by as many as six early, but pulled the game back to even and took a 34-29 lead right before half on a Jack Gohlke 3-pointer with three seconds left on the clock.
A strong start to the second half saw Hillsdale pull ahead by as many as 10 points, but a Cedarville run cut Hillsdale's lead to 53-52 with 8:34 to play.
Then, the Chargers seized control for good. Senior Cole Nau hit his only two shots of the game back-to-back to stop the Yellow Jacket run in its tracks, then Gohlke hit back-to-back 3-pointers to push Hillsdale's lead back to double digits. That was too much for Cedarville to overcome against Hillsdale's defense, as the Yellow Jackets scored just eight points in the final eight minutes of the game while the Chargers pulled away.
It was another big offensive night for Gohlke, who scored a team-best 19 points and chipped in four rebounds and three assists. Gohlke led the Chargers in scoring for the third consecutive game, but he had plenty of help from a team effort offensively for Hillsdale. Playing starter's minutes off the bench, sophomore Charles Woodhams shined in his best outing to date, getting to the rim consistently and finishing tough shots to chip in 18 points along with three rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Senior Peter Kalthoff had another solid night inside in a tough matchup against one of the G-MAC's best big men, Cedarville center Jacob Drees, finishing with 15 points and 11 rebounds for his first career double-double, along with three assists.
On a rare night where he wasn't one of the focal points offensively, sophomore Joe Reuter made other significant contributions, playing excellent defense on Cedarville scorers Jayvon Maughmer and Grant Whisman, while also grabbing eight critical rebounds.
The Chargers are now 8-0 overall and 1-0 in the G-MAC, and will look to keep an impressive winning streak going with a home contest this Saturday against Trevecca Nazarene at 3 p.m.
Photo by McKenna Eichholz