In what could have been a trap game with a trip to G-MAC-leading Cedarville looming this Saturday, the Hillsdale College men's basketball team handled its business in impressive fashion on Thursday night at home, rolling past Northwood 92-75 with a strong shooting performance.
Against a feisty Timberwolves squad that put up solid offensive numbers of its own, the Chargers played excellent team basketball, finishing with 22 assists on 34 made shots and scoring 45 or more points in both halves of the contest.
Hillsdale had to overcome a slow start that saw the Chargers holding a 13-11 lead seven minutes into the game. Post Eric Radisevic made a big splash off the bench at that point, entering the game and scoring seven points in two minutes of action to jump-start Hillsdale's offense. With Radisevic providing the spark, Hillsdale outscored Northwood 15-5 over five minutes of play to take a double-digit lead it would never relinquish.
Along with Radisevic, Hillsdale got a big first half from senior Charles Woodhams, who punctuated that run with three 3-pointers in five possessions and hit his first eight shots from the floor on the way to a team-leading 22 point, 10 rebound double-double.
Led by a 34-point night from Collin Albert, Northwood refused to let the Chargers get comfortable in the second half, but Hillsdale kept the pedal to the floor offensively, attacking downhill, finding open cutters for layups and continuing to score at will to match and exceed whatever the Timberwolves threw at them. When Hillsdale did miss, the Chargers used a huge edge on the glass, outrebounding Northwood 43-22 on the night, to create 20 second-chance points as well.
Five players, including Woodhams, finished with double figures on the night. Junior Joe Reuter added 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two blocks for the Chargers, while Radisevic and sophomore Ashton Janowski each chipped in 13. Samuel Vasiu finished with 10 points and three assists as well for the Chargers, and Mikey McCollum added seven points off the bench.
With the win, Hillsdale improves to 12-6 overall, 7-4 in the G-MAC ahead of Saturday's game at Cedarville, tipping off at 4:15 p.m. The Yellowjackets lead the G-MAC with an 8-1 record and control their own destiny to bring home the title, but an upset by the Chargers would bring Cedarville back to the chasing pack and boost Hillsdale's own hopes of a top four seed in the season-ending G-MAC Tournament.
Photo by Reva Ludwig