After earning his first career G-MAC Men's Basketball Player of the Week honor in mid-January, it didn't take long for Peter Kalthoff to prove himself worthy of another.
The senior center for the Hillsdale College men's basketball team was announced as this week's recipient of the Player of the Week honor by the conference office earlier this afternoon, giving him a second honor in three weeks and the G-MAC-leading Chargers their second of the 2022-23 season.
Kalthoff was huge for Hillsdale in two more victories for the 19-2 squad this past weekend. In a critical showdown at home with fellow conference title contender Cedarville, Kalthoff shot 60% from the floor and finished with 16 points and nine rebounds to just miss his fifth double-double of the season. The senior was even better in a Saturday road win at Northwood, scoring 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to help Hillsdale pull away for an 84-54 win.
It's been a huge season for Kalthoff, who entered 2022-23 with 132 total minutes played and averaging 1.2 points per game in three previous campaigns. This season, he's been Hillsdale's leader in scoring (13.7 points per game), rebounds (6.6 per game) and blocks (one per game) while starting all 21 contests at center for the Chargers, giving all types of opponents problems with his athletic ability and fundamentally sound game at both ends of the floor.
He'll continue to play a big role for 11th-ranked Hillsdale, which sits at 19-2 overall and alone in first place in the G-MAC at 12-2 in conference play with six games remaining. The Chargers are looking to capture their third G-MAC title in four seasons and earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year. Both would be unprecedented feats in the history of the program, but those accomplishments won't come easily with a tough closing schedule -- Hillsdale will need Kalthoff and his teammates to keep up the strong form that got them this far to see it through.
The Chargers have a big contest on Thursday as G-MAC title contender Ashland comes to town for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena next.
Photo by Charles Miller