Chargers to start conference play on the road after pair of home games

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Chargers to start conference play on the road after pair of home games
Davis Larson shoots the ball in an earlier game against Findlay. (S. Nathaniel Grime | Courtesy)

Before heading into Thanksgiving break, the Hillsdale College Chargers played a pair of home games: Davenport University on Saturday, and Wayne State University on Wednesday.

On Nov. 23, Hillsdale beat the Davenport Panthers, the defending GLIAC Champions, 83-62. Head coach John Tharp credits the team’s energy on the offensive end with the win. With a 23-5 scoring run to end the first half, the stats support his claim. 

“We played well on Saturday. I think we played with tremendous energy. We had a ton of assists and really guarded well,” Tharp said. “I liked our pace up the floor offensively. We just had a lot of different guys contribute.” 

The teams were tied at 18 with just over nine minutes remaining in the half. A layup by junior guard Connor Hill sparked the Chargers’ momentum, leading into their scoring run to end the half, 41-23.

This was the second-highest scoring game the Chargers have had all season, as they shot 59% from the floor and had 16 assists. Hillsdale’s bench added in 17 points as well, proving the team’s well-rounded effort.

Senior guard Dylan Lowry led the team in both scoring and rebounds, with 21 points and nine rebounds. Freshman forward Pat Cartier is adjusting to the college game, as he scored 19 points and snagged four rebounds. 

“Our defense has been firing on all cylinders. We’ve been playing tremendous team defense,” Lowry said. “Our offense was also clicking, so it was a combination of tremendous defense and scoring at a high percentage. Seven games in, I’m happy with where we’re at and we’ll just keep growing the chemistry on a daily basis.”

The Chargers returned to the gym on Wednesday evening to take on the Wayne State University Warriors, but saw a much different result, losing 65-60. 

“There were three things that happened to us,” Tharp said. “We gave up a ton of second-chance points. We missed a bunch of things around the rim. And we didn’t shoot particularly well from the free throw line.” 

The team decreased to a shooting percentage of 39, while going 7-11 from the freethrow line. The Chargers’ defense, however, managed to force 11 Wayne State turnovers and convert them for 18 points. 

“The 59% on Saturday was great, absolutely tremendous. But we haven’t shot it from consistently from the three-point line as well as I think we’re capable of, and we haven’t gotten as many three-point shots as we probably need to. We’ve been scoring more in the paint this year than we ever have.” 

In the two games combined, Hillsdale scored 94 of its 143 points in the paint while shooting 30.1% from beyond the arc. 

Junior forward Davis Larson led the team in scoring with 20 points, while Cartier and Lowry both added in six rebounds. 

The Chargers begin conference play this week with a road trip to West Virginia. They’ll take on Alderson Broadus on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. and Ohio Valley at 3 p.m. The Chargers haven’t won at Alderson Broadus in the last two years, which Lowry says is a hard place to play at.

“On long road trips it’s just about being road warriors and winning away games. It’s always a tremendous challenge, this road trip especially. We’re going to foreign lands out in West Virginia,” Lowry said. “It’s just going to take great efforts from everybody. It’s gonna start with our defense and rebounding the ball because that sets the tone for the whole game.”

Tharp said the team’s non-conference schedule gives the Chargers confidence to start conference play strong.

“You’re always worried with it being the last week of the semester and being on the road, but we’ve got to get them upright, we’ve got to get them focused, and we’ve got to get them hungry, and ready to compete,” Tharp said. “We’ve played three top-25 teams and a few other very good teams.”