No. 12 Chargers extend winning streak to 9 games

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No. 12 Chargers extend winning streak to 9 games
The men’s basketball team plays in the Blue-White Scrimmage on Nov. 17 (Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletics)

The 12th-ranked Hillsdale College men’s basketball team stretched its winning streak to 9-0, maintaining the spot on top of the G-MAC after going 3-0 last week with some late-game heroics. 

The Chargers began their toughest week of the season to date with an exciting, double overtime win against Cedarville, who entered the matchup third-ranked third in the G-MAC, on Tuesday, Feb. 2. 

Four of Hillsdale’s starting five scored in double figures, including a new career-high from sophomore Patrick Cartier, this time hitting the 30-point mark. Seniors Austen Yarian and Davis Larson each added 19, and Connor Hill chipped in 11 to down Cedarville, 83-79. 

Yet again, the Chargers found themselves with a big lead early, up 13-5 less than eight minutes into the game. Holding a double-digit lead for much of the first half, the Chargers went into half-time up 34-25.

Cedarville erased the lead all too quickly, opening the half on a 12-0 run and sparking a back-and-forth battle that would last the remainder of the game. 

The first and third ranked teams in the G-MAC entered the final two minutes of regulation tied, and Cartier found himself at the free-throw line with just 13 seconds remaining, his team down just one. Cartier split the attempts, sending the game to overtime with the score knotted at 63.

After finding themselves down by six with three minutes left in overtime, Yarian came alive, scoring two quick buckets and finding Cartier for a clutch shot with just five second remaining to tie the score at 69.

The second overtime was hard-fought the whole way through. Cartier scored seven for the Chargers and Branden Maughmer put up seven of his own for Cedarville. In a game filled with clutch shots, none was bigger than the Charger’s final bucket of the game. 

With 20 seconds remaining, the Chargers clung to a one-point lead. As the shot clock wound down, Cartier found Larson for a one-dribble sidestep, dagger three. The program’s best three-point shooter of all time delivered when it mattered, giving the Chargers their 12th win of the season.

Prior to their victory over Cedarville, the Chargers played in their first home game of the season with fans in the stands. They dominated Lake Erie College from the tip. Like many of their games this season, they jumped out to a hot start, opening the game on a 19-3 run and entering halftime with a 21 point lead. 

The exclamation point of the half came with 30 second left, when senior center Austen Yarian blocked Jackson Burdyshaw’s 3-point shot attempt. Senior forward Davis Larson grabbed the rebound and found Yarian on a long outlet pass, who cocked the ball back with one hand and punched it in for an emphatic dunk over a Lake Erie defender. 

“After that dunk I had in the first half, hearing everybody cheering gave us a lot of momentum going into halftime, and helped us come out and get it done in the second half,” Yarian said.

In the second half, Yarian added a one-handed alley-oop dunk to his highlight reel, getting the crowd excited yet again on the receiving end of one of senior guard Connor Hill’s five assists. 

The Chargers used a 23-point, 10-rebound double double from Cartier and a 19-point performance from Yarian to keep a 15-point lead over Lake Erie for much of the game, finishing with a final score of 77-63. 

Only two days later, Cartier put up 29 points, earning his third G-MAC Player of the Week award of the season, becoming the first men’s basketball player in Hillsdale history to perform such a feat. Cartier accounted for more than half of the team’s total 57 points against Ohio Dominican University, and his family was in town to see it all. 

The first half, however, did not see the hot start that the Chargers were used to putting up. They led by just three points at halftime, with Cartier and Yarian being their only players with made field goals. At 1-13 from behind the three-point line, the team was shooting 27% under their season average.

“We got a lot of really good shots in the first half, we just didn’t make them,” Head Coach John Tharp said. “I told these guys to relax a little bit, and just be confident and let it go, let’s play inside out. I think in the second half we did that.”

Despite their first half struggles, the Chargers defined their 16-point win on the defensive end. They held ODU to just 30.6% shooting from the field, their best statistical defensive performance of the season. 

“I thought Larson and Hill, the two seniors, on Saturday played great,” Tharp said. “Statistically maybe their numbers weren’t great, but they just played a tremendous defensive game.”

The second half proved to be a whole different game for the Chargers. They opened the half on a 15-6 run, forcing four turnovers during that stretch. 

ODU committed 11 turnovers in the second half, and 19 total, off of which the Chargers scored 18 points, including 6 fastbreak points. The Chargers also held ODU to both zero points off of turnovers, and zero fastbreak points. 

“We always say some of the best transition defense we can have is running a good offense and getting good shots,” Cartier said. “If you’re running and chucking early in the shot clock, that’s when teams can get out and run on you.”

The Chargers used their defense, Cartier’s career performance, and a 13-point, six-rebound game from Yarian to secure a 57-41 win over ODU following a strong second half. Yarian’s 13 points included three made threes, following a game against Lake Erie where he also hit three threes.

“That’s huge, when we have him making shots. It’s super important when Austen plays the way that he played last week,” Tharp said. 

Hillsdale will attempt to finish out the week with a win against the University of Findlay on Saturday at 3 p.m. in the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.

Saturday marks the second matchup between the Oilers and Chargers, and the last time gave the Chargers their only loss of the year back on Jan. 2. Entering this week, Tharp said he made a point for the players to know that the team’s mindset should stay constant.

“For us, we have to stick to the formula of having that defense-first montra, that’s what I definitely think that strength of our team is,” Cartier said. “If we just keep blocking out on defense and keep running our offense and getting good looks, I think we should be able to come up with a couple of wins this week.”