Men’s basketball carries 9-3 G-MAC record into Thursday tilt

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Men’s basketball carries 9-3 G-MAC record into Thursday tilt
Collegian file photo

The Charger men’s basketball team remains in second place in the G-MAC after a 77-56 romp of Ohio Valley University on Jan. 18 and a 82-72 victory over Cedarville University on Saturday.

The two wins coincided with head coach John Tharp returning to the team after taking time away with his family after the death of his father.

“He needed to be with his family and we understood that. But we are better when we are all together,” junior forward Nick Czarnowski said.

Tharp said he was grateful for his time away but also happy to be back with his basketball family.

“I was happy to be back,” Tharp said. “We needed some normalcy. The staff and players did an unbelievable job. There is a tremendous amount of gratitude and emotion here.”

The team got off the bus after a long trip to Ohio Valley University in Vienna, West Virginia ready to play punishing defense against the Fighting Scots. Ohio Valley (2-14, 1-9 G-MAC) scored only 16 field goals and shot 30 percent from the field for the game as Hillsdale (15-4, 9-3) forced OVU to turn the ball over 23 times.

The Chargers capitalized, scoring 28 points off of their opponent’s mistakes.

High-scoring senior guard duo of Ryan Badowski and Stedman Lowry led Hillsdale in scoring with 20 points and 17 points respectively as they made all nine of Hillsdale’s triples. They each also snagged four rebounds. Lowry daggered a three-pointer with one second left in the first half to establish a lead from which Ohio Valley could not recover.

Czarnowski battled in the post as he scored 13 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and had four blocks.

“He is such a factor for us when he catches the ball deep,” Tharp said. “He can go through people.”

Tharp added that in a perimeter-oriented basketball culture, his star forward is “a rarity of the game of basketball right now.”

Junior guard Nate Neveau took care of the ball, commiting no turnovers while dishing four assists and adding four steals.

“We did a good job taking care of the ball this week. We didn’t turn it over,” Czarnowski said.

It was two complete halves of basketball that made for a convincing team against an underrated team who had upset conference power Kentucky Wesleyan University on Jan. 13.

Four days later, Hillsdale earned another convincing win, 82-72, over Cedarville University (8-9, 3-7) as Lowry filled it up with 24 first half points including a run 6 consecutive field goals including 5 three-pointers. After Lowry’s hot streak, the Chargers never trailed.

The senior guard shot better than 50 percent from beyond the three-point line and ended the game with 29 points. He also nabbed five rebounds.

“Sometimes you just say: ‘Oh my gosh, I don’t know if he should have shot that,’ but then he gets in that mode and you have to let him go,” Tharp said. “He was amazing. It just puts a smile on your face.”

After a shooting slump in early December when Lowry averaged only 8.8 points, per game he has averaged nearly 20 points per game on 50 percent shooting from the field.

Czarnowski was perfect in the first half, going 3-3 from the field and adding two free throws for 8 points. But even with those numbers, he knew where the ball needed to go.

“Get Stedman the ball,” Czarnowski said. “When he is hitting like that, you got to find him.”

Once again, the Charger defense forced 13 turnovers and gave the Yellow Jackets trouble as they turned those mistakes into 19 points.

Hillsdale’s forwards, Czarnowski and junior Gordon Behr, also dominated down low, outscoring Cedarville 20-8 in the paint. Behr also showed his athleticism with an alley-oop from Neveau near the end of the first period.

“There is not as many post players sticking in the post trying to dominate on that end. But it works well in our system. We do a good job of dealing with teams who want to double team me,” Czarnowski said.

In a game in which more than one third of the points were scored at the free throw line, each team shot over 80 percent, with the Chargers going 25 for 29, which Tharp said his team needs continue.

“We have to work harder to get easier baskets and easier points,” he said. “A big part of that is getting to the free throw line and taking advantage of the free throw line.”

After a week on the road, the Chargers will return to their home floor, where they are 8-1 on the season, to face Kentucky Wesleyan University this Thursday at 7:30 p.m and finish up their homestand against Trevecca Nazarene University on Saturday at 3 p.m.

“We are heading into the end of the season and these are games we really need to win,” Behr said.