The regular season could not have finished any better for the Hillsdale College men’s basketball team. Unfortunately, the postseason did not go nearly as well.
Before falling to the 23rd-ranked Oilers of University of Findlay last night in the quarterfinal round of the GLIAC tournament 47-67, the Chargers routed the Oilers by 19 points in an 86-67 victory on Feb. 27, turning a one-point game at the half into a one-sided blowout at the buzzer.
“It was our last home game,” senior Tim Dezelski said. “I’m just really proud of all these guys, all these seniors.”
Dezelski, in his final game in front of Charger nation, put in yet another great all-around performance with 23 points, nine rebounds, and five assists. Fellow senior Brandon Pritzl scored a career-high 27 points in the final home game of his career, leading to his first career GLIAC player of the week honor.
“I’m proud that we finished this way,” assistant coach Brian McCauley said of the victory.
It was an emotional contest, capped when senior Anthony Manno knelt down to kiss center court after the Chargers’ thrilling victory.
The Chargers had plenty of momentum going into their rematch with Findlay in the first round of the GLIAC tournament, but weren’t able to get going early.
Findlay sprinted out to a quick 6-0 lead in less than three minutes and grew their lead to a margin of 19 points with 3:53 remaining in the first half. The Chargers responded with a quick 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 31-20, but the Oilers scored the last four points of the half to stop any momentum the Chargers were building.
Hillsdale hurt themselves with poor first half shooting, making just six of their 21 attempts from the field. The Chargers also missed all five of their 3-point attempts before intermission.
Half time did not offer any respite for the Chargers. Findlay started the second half on a 7-0 run to balloon their lead to 42-20, and Hillsdale wasn’t able to cut the lead down to less than 16 the rest of the way.
The Chargers made a season-low 15 field goals, leading to their lowest scoring output, and were outrebounded 40-30. Dezelski, in the final game of his illustrious Hillsdale career, scored 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds while sopho
more Kyle Cooper and fellow senior Brandon Pritzl also contributed 10 points apiece.
The Chargers also committed 14 turnovers to Findlay’s seven, leading to 17 Findlay points.
The loss drops Hillsdale to 0-7 all-time against Findlay in postseason play, the last two of which had been in the GLIAC championship game. The Chargers finish the season with an 18-9 overall record, in which eight of their nine losses came on the road.
“We did a great job protecting our court,” McCauley said.
The Chargers went 12-1 at home for the season, a fantastic mark.
The Chargers will lose six seniors going into next season, but won’t be lowering their expectations. Hillsdale has made the GLIAC tournament in all seven years that head coach John Tharp has led the Chargers, and will look to keep that streak alive next season.