The month of March, college basketball and crazy finishes are an iconic combination.
Unfortunately, the Hillsdale College men's basketball team found themselves on the wrong end of just that mix in a 68-66 G-MAC semifinal loss to Cedarville on Friday night in North Canton, Ohio.
Up 66-61 with a minute to play, the Chargers turned the ball over twice and opened the door for the Yellowjackets, who scored seven points in 43 seconds, punctuated by a steal with under seven seconds to play and and coast-to-coast layup by Cedarville senior Branden Maughmer to put the Yellowjackets ahead with under two seconds to play. That wasn't enough time for Hillsdale to get a rebuttal, and spelled the end of the Chargers' G-MAC Tourney run.
It was a bitter end to an inspired rally by the Chargers, who trailed 36-24 at the half but battled back with strong play at both ends of the floor to take a 50-49 lead with 8:47 to play. From there, it looked like the Chargers were in control, stretching its lead to as many as seven points with under four minutes to play. Cedarville refused to go quietly, knocking down multiple 3-pointers to prevent Hillsdale from pulling away, but for a minute it looked like the Chargers had the answers they needed, as clutch 3-pointers by Jack Gohlke and Kyle Goessler kept Hillsdale out in front and a layup by Patrick Cartier gave the Chargers a five-point lead with a minute to go.
But uncharacteristic turnover problems, an issue for the Chargers all night, proved to be too much to overcome. Hillsdale committed 16 turnovers, leading to 10 Yellowjacket points, none bigger than the game-clinching layup as time expired.
Cartier, the G-MAC Player of the Year, had another solid night for Hillsdale, finishing with 18 points on 8 of 11 shooting, as well as seven rebounds. Sharpshooters Goessler and Gohlke also had big nights for the Chargers, each chipping in 14 points and playing starring roles in the 42-point second half explosion that had the Chargers in position to win the game. Gohlke also chipped in six rebounds and three assists, while senior Austen Yarian added six points and five rebounds as well.
While he only finished with four points in the contest, Tavon Brown deserves special mention for his contribution off the bench as well for the Chargers. Brown also added six rebounds and two blocks and it was his contributions on defense in the second half that played a major role in slowing down a Cedarville offense that had been red-hot to that point, which keyed Hillsdale's big second half run.
The Chargers outshot Cedarville 54.3% to 49.2% from the floor in the contest, but took 15 fewer shots and made five less, a critical disparity created by Hillsdale's turnovers. Cedarville had just four giveaways in the game, allowing them to stay in position to pull out the victory despite shooting much less efficiently from the floor.
Hillsdale falls to 20-7 on the season and will now wait for the announcement of the NCAA Division II tournament field at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday to find out its fate. While the Chargers have a strong resume, with several quality wins and no losses to teams outside of the top 15 in the region, the metrics are extremely tight across the top 10, and Hillsdale can't be assured it's safely in until its name is called on Sunday.
Photo by Ralph Schudel