The Hillsdale College men's basketball team hung tough with the G-MAC leaders on the road for much of Saturday's contest, but couldn't overcome a dry spell in the final eight minutes of the game in a 68-56 loss to Cedarville.
The Chargers held Cedarville's G-MAC-leading offense to 15 points below its season average thanks to a strong defensive second half, locking down the Yellowjackets after giving up 40 in the first half, and trailed just 56-51 with 7:40 to play in the game after a Joe Reuter dunk.
But those points would be Hillsdale's last for the next five minutes and 32 seconds, and the basket would be Hillsdale's last field goal for the next seven minutes and 13 as the Chargers couldn't get necessary shots to go to stay in the game. While Cedarville wasn't able to take full advantage of the drought against a still-stingy Hillsdale defense, the Yellowjackets slowly added to their lead to pull away. By the time Reuter ended the drought with two free throws with 2:29 to play, Hillsdale was down 64-53 and without enough time to make a real run at the deficit.
Defense was a strong suit for Hillsdale for most of the game, as the Chargers landed the first blow early with a 10-0 run to start the game paced by strong shooting from sophomore Ashton Janowski. Cedarville struck back with a hot streak in the second half, overturning the deficit and taking an eight point half-time lead.
The Chargers doubled down at the defensive end to start the second half and erasing that halftime lead, outscoring Cedarville 13-5 to start the final period and tie the game at 45-all. But on a night where the Chargers were impressive defensively, they couldn't get enough offense in the end to pull the upset.
Reuter had one of his best games of the season to lead the Chargers, finishing with an 18 point, 15 rebound double-double, Janowski added 12 points and four rebounds, and Charles Woodhams chipped in nine points.
Hillsdale falls to 12-7 overall, 7-5 in the G-MAC, and has a huge road contest at a hot Tiffin squad next Thursday, Feb. 1. A win over the Dragons to complete the season sweep will keep the Chargers on the right side of the cutoff line for the G-MAC Tournament and keep Hillsdale in the hunt for a top four seed and home quarterfinal contest, but a loss would drop Hillsdale to a precarious place in the standings for conference tournament qualification purposes as the stretch run nears.
Photo by Reva Ludwig