In its first ever NCAA DII Tournament Elite Eight appearance , the seventh-seeded Hillsdale College men's basketball team put up a real fight against second-seeded Indiana (Pa.) to try and reach the Final Four.
But ultimately, the Chargers couldn't break through one of the country's toughest defenses to get to the next round, as a poor shooting night ended Hillsdale's season in a 67-55 loss on Tuesday night at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana.
The Chargers had their third-worst shooting performance of the 2021-22 season in Tuesday's game, shooting just 35.8% from the floor and gonig 4 of 27 from 3-point range. Much of that was due to the physical and relentless ball pressure brought by the Crimson Hawks, who entered Tuesday's contest with the fourth-best scoring defense in the country and only burnished their reputation further in the Elite Eight contest.
Despite the struggles from the field, the Chargers still found ways to be competitive, rallying from an early 22-10 deficit and closing the first half on a 17-8 run to trail just 30-27 at the break. With shots not falling, Hillsdale got to the free throw line, going 8-of-11 at the charity stripe, and generated points off of turnovers to get back into the game. Consensus All-American Patrick Cartier also took charge during the stretch, scoring eight of his 12 first-half points to lead all scorers at the break.
With the Chargers in striking distance despite a tough first half, a better second-half shooting performance could have flipped the script on the game. But Hillsdale just never found its rhythm, while IUP continued to heat up from distance, hitting seven 3-pointers in the second half and shooting 50% from beyond the arc to pull away. A quick 10-2 run to open the half, sparked by eight points from IUP guard Dave Morris, gave IUP a double-digit lead, and though the Chargers hung tough to prevent a blowout, they were unable to successfully reel the Crimson Hawks back in at any point as well.
Despite a defense geared towards taking him out of the game, Cartier still was effective, finishing with 18 points on 7 of 10 shooting and five rebounds. But Hillsdale struggled to establish secondary scoring on a night where the entire Chargers squad was cold from deep. Junior Jack Gohlke was the only other Hillsdale player in double figures, finishing with 10 points, while fellow junior guards Kyle Goessler and Cole Nau each added six points.
In his final game in a Charger uniform, Austen Yarian had one more strong all-around contest, finishing with six points and leading Hillsdale with seven rebounds and four assists, while freshman Joe Reuter chipped in five points and junior Tavon Brown added four off the bench.
Hillsdale finishes a historic season at 23-8 overall. The Chargers captured a Midwest Regional title and reached the final week of the season for the first time since becoming a NCAA Division II member in the 1990-91 season, playing on the Division's biggest stage alongside some of its most elite teams. That validation is an important step for a Hillsdale program that continued to build toward the ultimate prize in head coach John Tharp's 15th season at the helm.
The Chargers bid farewell to Yarian and Brown, two program stalwarts who've been a critical part of the most successful run by a men's basketball team at Hillsdale since the Bill Morse era during the Chargers' NAIA days in the early 80s. Both players were incredibly productive throughout their careers and their size, athleticism, effort and leadership will be missed moving forward.
But despite the loss of two key players, Hillsdale's future looks bright. The program is slated to return four starters, including Cartier, already one of the top players in Hillsdale's history with at least one more season to play, and are also bringing back one of the league's top bench players in 2021-22 G-MAC Freshman of the Year Joe Reuter. While there's no denying the 2022-23 squad will have a different look and a tough road to get back to the Elite Eight, the pieces remain for the Chargers to be a top contender again in the season to come.
Photo by Savannah Evan Photography