The Hillsdale College men's basketball team knew it had a size advantage entering a Thursday night home contest against the University of Michigan Dearborn.
And the Chargers didn't hesitate to use that edge to full effect in an 80-64 victory over the Wolverines.
Hillsdale pounded UM-Dearborn on the glass, outrebounding the Wolverines 49-26 and turning 17 offensive rebounds into into 19 second chance points, to take an early lead and never look back. The Chargers never trailed after the 19 minute mark in the first quarter, grabbed an early 16-6 edge and built an 18 point lead by halftime on 52.6% shooting from the floor.
After halftime, Hillsdale cooled off offensively, shooting 42% from the floor in the second half and just 2 of 14 from 3-point range, but their work on the glass helped the Chargers maintain their edge and keep the Wolverines from seriously threatening their lead. Hillsdale took 12 more shots in the second half than UM-Dearborn, allowing them to keep scoring despite the lower shooting percentage, and solid defense also meant the Wolverines never got closer than 14 points to Hillsdale after halftime.
The Chargers shared the ball well offensively, dishing out 17 assists with nine different players recording at least one for the Chargers, and with four players in double figures for the third straight game. Junior Joe Reuter led the way with a 21 point, six rebound, three block, three assist performance, and senior Charles Woodhams also had a huge night, scoring 20 points for back-to-back games of 20-plus and also grabbing 12 rebounds for his first career double-double, along with three assists and two steals.
Redshirt freshman CJ Yarian chipped in a career-high 10 points and eight rebounds, and sophomore Ashton Janowski added 10 points as well. Senior Sam Vasiu contributed seven points, four rebounds and two steals off the bench for Hillsdale, and freshman Caleb Glaser aded four points, six rebounds and two assists.
The victory means Hillsdale is undefeated heading into its first big test of the season, a road trip to D2SIDA regionally-ranked Northern Michigan next Tuesday night. The Wildcats were a 25 win team in 2022-23 and split with the Chargers last season, making them a great measuring stick to see where Hillsdale is at as December and conference play closes in.
Photo by Isabella Sheehan