The 16th-ranked Hillsdale College men's basketball team got off to a slow start on Tuesday night against visiting Lewis, falling behind 16-6 eight minutes into the game.
But the Chargers woke up in a hurry, rallying to trail by just one at halftime, 31-30, then outscored the Flyers 37-21 in the second half to roll to a 67-52 home victory and improve to 4-1 on the season.
Hillsdae took control for good with 15 minutes to play in the game, going on an 8-0 run, aided by a Jack Gohlke and-one, to turn a 40-38 lead into a double digit advantage. Another 3-point play by Kyle Goessler shortly after the run pushed the Charger lead to double digits and Hillsdale never let Lewis back in from there.
The Chargers won in the second half with defense, led by junior Tavon Brown. Brown had four of his career-high five blocked shots in the second half, helping the Chargers seize control in the paint. Lewis big man Connor Niego had 14 first-half points to give the Flyers a lead, but just two second half points as Brown and other Chargers in the post clamped down and made life harder for Niego to get easy baskets.
Junior Patrick Cartier led the Chargers with 17 points, four rebounds and two assists, while Gohlke chipped in 12, including three made 3-pointers, off the bench and senior Austen Yarian added 12 points and three assists as well. Goessler chipped in 10 points and four asists for the Chargers, and Brown nearly gave Hillsdale a fifth double-digit scorer, finishing with nine points, seven rebounds and four assists in addition to those five blocks.
The Chargers were out-rebounded 33-25 on the night, but committed just six turnovers to Lewis' 15, and took advantage of the miscues, outscoring the Flyers 15-6 in points off turnovers. Hillsdale also had a big edge off the bench, led by Gohlke's strong night, getting 19 bench points to Lewis' six. Those two factors had a big impact on Hillsdale pulling ahead in the second half.
Hillsdale has no more games this week around the Thanksgiving holiday, and now turns its focus to Thursday, Dec. 2 and a long road trip to a dangerous Kentucky Wesleyan team to kick off G-MAC play. The Chargers are the two-time defending regular season champions but the league looks tougher than ever and Hillsdale's worthiness to chase a third straight crown will immediately be put to the test against a talented Panthers team with several impact Division I and Division II transfers on the roster.
Photo by Gwen Buchhop
