The #12/13 Hillsdale College men's basketball team battled on the road in a critical G-MAC contest on Saturday, but were undone by a second-half scoring drought in an 80-67 loss at Ashland.
The Chargers battled back from a deficit as large as eight points in the first half to trail the host Eagles by just one at halftime, 40-39, and matched Ashland blow-for-blow for the first eight minutes of the second half, trailing just 52-51 after a 3-pointer by Kyle Goessler with 11:57 to play.
But Hillsdale went cold offensively, scoring just four points over the next six minutes of game action, while Ashland kept converting at the offensive end, going on a 13-4 run that stretched the Eagles' lead to double-digits with 6:03 to play. Hillsdale never got closer that eight points the rest of the way, and Ashland made its free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.
Senior Jack Gohlke was 9 of 14 from the floor and 6 of 10 from 3-point range to score 24 points as Hillsdale made 13 3-pointers in the contest, their outside shooting keeping them in the game for the first 30 minutes. But the Chargers never cracked the code when it came to slowing down Ashland, as the Eagles shot 55.4% from the floor and 40% from 3-point range to reach 80 points against the Chargers for the second time this season.
Joe Reuter chipped in 13 points and four rebounds for the Chargers, Kyle Goessler added 12 points and Peter Kalthoff and Cole Nau each chipped in eight for Hillsdale, with Kalthoff adding nine rebounds as well. Hillsdale committed just seven turnovers in the loss but were outrebounded 36-21 by the Eagles, giving up 10 second-chance points and 44 points in the paint.
Hillsdale (22-4, 15-4 G-MAC) still controls its own destiny to clinch a share of the G-MAC title, traveling to Findlay next week in both teams' regular season finale with the opportunity to do just that. But the Chargers will need Ashland to drop one of its final two games -- at home against Malone on Thursday or at Trevecca Nazarene next Saturday -- to have any chance of earning the top seed in the G-MAC tournament, as the Eagles control the tiebreaker with a sweep of the Chargers this season.
Photo by Charles Miller