The Hillsdale College men's basketball team did its best to dig out of a deep first-half hole on Thursday night, but not even a record-tying performance by senior Jack Gohlke was enough to complete the comeback in a 82-73 home loss to Ashland.
Hillsdale was 14 of 22 from the 3-point line in the second half, with Gohlke burying nine of them to finish with 10 on the game, as Hillsdale cut a 33-18 halftime deficit to one possession twice in the second half. It wasn't enough, however, to get over the hump against an Ashland team that shot 44.4% from deep itself and answered every single run with one of its own to hold Hillsdale at bay.
Trailing by 15 entering the second half, Hillsdale methodically worked down Ashland's lead. A four-point play by Gohlke with 13:20 to go in the second half, combined with a fast-break layup by Joe Reuter off an Ashton Janowski steal, cut Ashland's advantage to 42-39.
Ashland was able to get to the foul line and push the lead back out to eight with 10:31 to go, but Hillsdale made another charge, getting layups by Cole Nau and Peter Kalthoff on back-to-back possessions and a big 3-pointer by Kyle Goessler to once again close within three points, 51-48, with 8:05 to play.
That was as close as the Chargers would get, however, as Ashland reeled off a huge 11-3 run to answer Hillsdale's push, going up 62-51 with 4:01 to play. Hillsdale kept hitting 3-pointers to try and make the comeback, but Ashland wouldn't budge, knocking down shots at the other end and punishing the Chargers with a 20 for 22 performance at the free throw line that sealed the game.
Ultimately, despite a red-hot second half, the Chargers were unable to overcome that rough first half, where Hillsdale shot 22% from the floor and just 3 for 18 from 3-point range to fall behind by double digits.
Gohlke went 10 of 19 from deep in the contest for 31 total points, tying a 15-year-old Hillsdale College record for made 3-pointers in a game set by Tim Homan on Dec. 8, 2007 in a 97-66 win over Saginaw Valley State. Gohlke also chipped in three rebounds and three assists. Reuter added 16 points, six rebounds and seven assists for the Chargers in the loss, Kyle Goessler added nine points, and Kalthoff chipped in nine rebounds.
Hillsdale falls to 19-3 overall and 12-3 in the G-MAC with the loss, and now finds itself in the thick of a G-MAC title race with five tough games remaining. The Chargers are just a half-game ahead of second-place Walsh in the standings, with Walsh hosting Findlay this Saturday with an opportunity to move into a tie with Hillsdale atop the standings with a win over the Oilers heading into the Chargers' home contest against the Cavaliers next Thursday.
That meeting between Hillsdale and Walsh, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 9, looms large in the conference race, especially with Hillsdale having to play a red-hot Lake Erie team two days later on Feb. 11 before hitting the road for tough contests at Malone, at Ashland, and at Findlay to close out the season.
Photo by Charles Miller