On November 17, 2021, the Ferris State men's basketball team handed the Hillsdale College Chargers their most lopsided loss of the season in an 89-58 defeat.
This Saturday at Alumni Arena in North Canton, Ohio, with a berth in the NCAA Division II Tournament Round of 16 on the line, the Chargers got their payback.
Third-seeded Hillsdale used one of its most complete performances of the season offensively to dismantle the higher-seeded and favored Bulldogs in a 90-74 victory that earned the Chargers their second straight appearance in the Sweet 16.
Hillsdale shot 51.6 percent from the floor and was 17 of 21 from the line, while holding Ferris State to just 4 of 24 shooting from beyond the arc. The Chargers' offense flowed through 2021-22 Midwest Regional Player of the Year Patrick Cartier, who was unstoppable in the second half, scoring 21 of his game-high 30 points after halftime to help the Chargers pull away. The effect of Cartier, who also finished with nine rebounds, five assists and two steals, is best measured by his effect on the players who tried to guard him. The starting five-man for the Bulldogs, Logan Ryan, played just 18 minutes due to foul trouble created by Cartier, forcing Ferris State to use a parade of reserve big men to try and check the dominant junior, with limited effect.
While Cartier made the most of his opportunities, he got critical help from his teammates throughout the contest. The Bulldogs couldn't double-team Cartier without exposing themselves to Hillsdale's shooters, and junior Jack Gohlke made Ferris State pay every time they tried, going 5 of 8 from 3-point range and finishing with 21 points as well for the Chargers. Junior Kyle Goessler chipped in 14 points as well for Hillsdale, while Joe Reuter added nine points and three assists off the bench.
The game was tight for the first 10 and a half minutes, but Hillsdale seized the momentum with an 8-2 mini-run from 9:10 to 7:21 in the first half. While it didn't seem like much, it gave the Chargers a lead it could hold, and Hillsdale took advantage, never trailing from that point on in the contest and taking a 41-34 lead into halftime.
Ferris State made a second-half push, cutting the Chargers' lead from double-digits to a 62-61 advantage with 10:38 to play. But the Chargers responded with five straight points to make it a two possession game, then used back-to-back 3-pointers by Gohlke and Reuter to push the lead back to double-digits.
Hillsdale then closed out the game with a defensive masterclass, holding the Bulldogs scoreless for the final four and a half minutes of the contest. Gohlke ended any hopes of Ferris St. making a late push with a dagger 3-pointer with 1:27 to play that put Hillsdale up 16 and in an unassailable position.
Junior Cole Nau chipped in seven points and five assists for the Chargers, and senior Austen Yarian added five points, six rebounds and four assists.
Now 22-7 on the year, the Chargers have matched their deepest-ever run in the NCAA Tournament, alongside last year's team that made it to the Atlantic Regional final. Hillsdale will look to make program history on Monday and bring home its first-ever NCAA Midwest Regional championship and Elite Eight berth. Standing in the Chargers' path is fifth-seeded Missouri-St. Louis, who pulled a shocking upset of top-seed and host Walsh in an 87-56 beatdown in the other semifinal. It's the first-ever meeting between the Chargers and Tritons, and it promises to be an intriguing matchup with an unprecedented payoff if Hillsdale can come through with a victory.