With a critical game in the G-MAC standings in the balance on Saturday, the 11th-ranked Hillsdale College men's basketball team made the plays it needed to down the stretch to put away a strong Malone squad for a 76-70 victory at home, and hold on to its perch atop the Great Midwest Athletic Conference eight games into the conference schedule.
Up just 64-63 with three minutes to play, the Chargers got momentum-shifting plays at both ends of the floor. Senior center Peter Kalthoff sliced through defenders in the paint for two contested layups, sandwiched between a dagger 3-pointer from senior Jack Gohlke, over the next two minutes to help Hillsdale seize a huge 71-65 advantage with a minute to go.
Then, at the other end of the floor, Kalthoff turned into a stopper, poking the ball away from Malone's Elijah Hinton for a steal and recording two blocks in the final 50 seconds to help maintain Hillsdale's advantage.
Kalthoff's defensive effort, along with a 5 of 7 performance in the final minute on free throws, helped the Chargers hang on for a hard-fought victory.
It looked like there might not be much drama late at first, as Hillsdale dominated the first half defensively, forcing Malone into 11 turnovers and holding the Pioneers to 38.5% shooting from the floor and 1 for 7 from 3-point range to build a 33-22 halftime lead.
But after a quiet first half, Malone's two stars and the two leading scorers in the G-MAC, Justin Miller and Bo Myers, heated up, combining for 36 second half points to erase Hillsdale's double-digit lead and put Malone ahead by as many as five with 12:36 to play.
Faced with a red-hot Malone squad, Hillsdale dug deep and refused to budge, leaning on its entire roster to match the Pioneers blow-for-blow.
Kalthoff led the way with 14 points and three blocks on 6 of 10 shooting for the Chargers, but Hillsdale also got 14 points from sophomore Joe Reuter and 12 points and three assists from Kyle Goessler to keep the scoring balance.
One of the biggest performances came off the bench from true freshman Ashton Janowski, who was thrust into major minutes with senior point guard Cole Nau battling foul trouble for much of the second half. Janowski was a perfect 4 for 4 from the field, knocking down two 3-pointers, for a career-high 10 points, and also chipped in four rebounds as well to help keep the Chargers from falling behind.
Gohlke added eight points and six rebounds for the Chargers, Nau added seven points and three assists, and Charles Woodhams chipped in six point as well for Hillsdale.
The Chargers improve to 14-1 with the victory, and 7-1 in the G-MAC, a half-game ahead of Ashland (6-1) for the conference lead, with Malone and Walsh sitting a game back with two losses apiece. Hillsdale will try to open up some ground on its competition next week with two more games at home, beginning with a 7:30 p.m. contest against Northwood on Thursday.
Photo by Charles Miller