After seeing its tournament hopes crushed on the final day of the season last year, the Hillsdale College men’s basketball team secured its spot in the postseason on Saturday with a game to spare.
The Chargers routed the Ferris State Bulldogs on the road 88-70 on Feb. 18 before defeating the Grand Valley Lakers 77-70 on Senior Day on Saturday afternoon to clinch a GLIAC Tournament spot in front of Hillsdale’s largest home crowd in four years. Hillsdale has now qualified for the tournament in eight of John Tharp’s nine seasons as head coach.
Just two weeks ago, the Chargers were in the midst of a stretch of six losses in seven games, struggling to get going on the road and failing to close out tight games. Those problems were nowhere to be found over the weekend, as the Chargers have won four games in a row to improve to 16-9 overall and 12-9 in the GLIAC.
At Ferris State, the Chargers jumped out to a 47-30 halftime lead, their biggest in conference play this season. The Chargers held the Bulldogs to 33 percent field goal shooting in the first half, while shooting 53 percent themselves, due in large part to sophomore guard Stedman Lowry’s scorching first-half performance.
Lowry scored 24 points before the break on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 7-of-10 shooting from 3-point territory.
“I made a couple shots early and Zach Miller and our other guys got it to me early so I was able to hit some shots in the first half and give us a nice lead. Our offense was just clicking,” Lowry said. “Everyone contributed and did a little of everything so they just couldn’t guard us.”
Tharp said having a player set the tone the way Lowry did on the road was “huge.”
“Our confidence built as every second went by, and he put on a show that first half,” Tharp said. “Give a lot of credit to Stedman for making the shots, and give a lot of credit to our guys for finding him.”
Tharp said his team’s ability to keep Ferris State off the offensive glass was a major key. The Bulldogs lead the GLIAC with an average of 41.3 rebounds per game, including 13.3 offensive rebounds per game, but the Chargers won the rebounding battle 39-31 overall and 9-8 on the offensive glass, holding Ferris State to just 10 second chance points.
“We went on the road against a great team, a team that was dominating their opponents on the offensive glass, and we kept them off the glass,” Tharp said. “It was a great win for us.”
Lowry finished with a game-high 29 points, and senior forward Kyle Cooper recorded another double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds.
The Chargers’ victory over Ferris State set up a Senior Day showdown with the Lakers, who were tied with Hillsdale in the standings at the time. With a tournament spot on the line, 1,077 fans witnessed what Cooper called — in his final regular-season home game — “one of the best days” he’s had in his four years at Hillsdale.
“The gym was so loud, the student section was awesome, the whole fan base was incredible,” said Cooper, who was named GLIAC North Division of Player of the Week on Monday for a school-record fifth time this season. “Against a hated opponent in Grand Valley, for us to battle like we did down the stretch — and guys hitting big shots, making big plays, steals, rebounds, whatever it be — it was an emotional day for us and it was just an awesome day all around.”
After a slow first few minutes, the Chargers opened up a 28-13 lead with 8:47 left in the first half. Grand Valley drew within four points at halftime, 32-28. The Chargers and the Lakers exchanged short runs in the second half, until the Lakers used a 12-2 run to take a 65-59 lead with 3:57 remaining in the game.
“It felt like we were just hanging on until finally they took the lead,” said Cooper, who finished with 26 points and 11 rebounds. “And then there was a moment we called timeout, and after coaches broke the huddle, the players huddled on the court and we said, ‘There can’t be any doubt in our minds that we’re going to win this game. You’ve just got to believe that we’re going to make the plays necessary.’”
The Chargers responded to Grand Valley’s 12-2 run with a decisive 17-0 run over the final three minutes to take a 76-65 lead with 21 seconds left. Cooper made two 3-pointers during the run, redshirt freshman point guard Nate Neveau made six free throws including the go-ahead basket, and senior point guard Zach Miller iced the game with a 3-pointer with 39 seconds left.
“The real key was we finally got stops that we needed and rebounded the ball when we had to, so it started on that end,” Tharp said. “Our ball screen defense hurt us at times and we made a subtle adjustment with that and we kept them out of the paint down the stretch.”
In addition to his team’s improved defense and Cooper’s and Miller’s “big” 3-pointers, Tharp said the crowd played an important role in Hillsdale’s comeback.
“It was as loud as I’ve ever heard this place. I thought a big part of the 17-0 run was the momentum that the crowd gave us,” Tharp said. “We became the aggressors and Grand Valley got a little tentative that last 3:54 and again the crowd brought us so much energy and took us home down the stretch.”
The Chargers will wrap up their regular season tonight at 8 p.m. on the road against the league-leading 16th-ranked Saginaw Valley Cardinals (22-5, 18-3 in the GLIAC). While the Chargers have already clinched a tournament spot, they are approaching this game like a playoff game with a potential home tournament game on the line.
If the Chargers knock off the Cardinals tonight and Ferris State and Lake Superior State both lose, then the Chargers would move into the fourth seed and host Ferris State on Tuesday night at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena. Otherwise, the Chargers would open the tournament on the road.
“There’s actually still a lot to be played for. Granted, we need things to fall into place,” Cooper said. “We’ve taken the approach the last couple weeks that it’s win or go home for us in a lot of aspects, so we’re going to prepare like we always do, and we’re going to come out ready to play an intense basketball game.”