Entering Saturday's game at Cedarville, Hillsdale College senior Austen Yarian had been flying under the radar offensively this season.
It's safe to say he has everyone's full attention now.
Yarian scored nearly half of the Chargers' 58 points in a 58-57 win over the visiting Yellowjackets, hitting nine shots and shooting 3 of 7 from 3-point range to finish with 25 points and five rebounds.
None of those shots were bigger than the last one, as Yarian made an aggressive drive into the lane with six seconds to play and the Chargers trailing by one, powered through contact and finished at the rim for the game-winner with 3.5 seconds to play.
Yarian was critical down the stretch for Hillsdale, and not just for the game-winning shot. He also drew a foul on an aggressive drive with 14 seconds to play and the Chargers trailing 57-54, and hit both free throws to close the deficit to one point. Hillsdale was forced to foul to extend the game, and when Cedarville missed the front end of a one-and-one, Yarian secured the rebound and got the ball back for the basket that put the Chargers ahead for good.
It was a satisfying end to a frustrating game for the Chargers, who spent most of the night trailing Cedarville and never led by more than five points. Hillsdale outshot Cedarville 48.9% to 43.6% from the floor, but struggled with an uncharacteristically high 16 turnovers and never really found a rhythm offensively against a tough Cedarville defense.
The Chargers stayed in the game thanks to their own stellar defensive effort, holding the Yellowjackets 23 points below their season average and forcing Cedarville to make tough, contested shots to put any points on the board.
That kept Cedarville from running away with the game at multiple points, including when the Yellowjackets took a double-digit lead late in the first half and also when Cedarville took a 51-44 lead with 8:38 to play. For the final eight minutes and 30 seconds of the game, Cedarville scored just six points against the Chargers, four on two heavily contested jumpers and the other two on a put-back after being blocked on the first attempt.
Defensively, the Yellowjackets were determined to take away the G-MAC's leading scorer, Hillsdale junior Patrick Cartier, and succeeded in limiting him to a season-low 10 points, as well as eight rebounds and three assists. But that meant frequent double-teams that gave Yarian room to work, and the senior dissected the Cedarville defense in the second half, scoring 19 of his 25 points and making the Yellowjackets pay for not giving him due respect defensively.
Tavon Brown, Cole Nau and Joe Reuter all chipped in six points for the Chargers.
The hard-fought road victory is a big one for Hillsdale, which improves to 8-1 overall, 4-0 in G-MAC play and also hands Cedarville its first conference loss. The Chargers are now one of just three remaining unbeaten teams in the G-MAC, along with Malone and Walsh, as the top teams in the conference standings begin to separate from the pack after this weekend's results.
Hillsdale has one more conference game before the Christmas Break, and it's another big one, as the Chargers host arch-rival Findlay on Saturday, Dec. 18. The Oilers enter the game reeling after three straight losses, but are still one of the most talented teams in the conference and desperate for a win to keep from falling out of the G-MAC race entirely, making the stakes extremely high for a December contest.
Photo by MaryKate Drews