After three wins at home, the Charger men’s basketball team saw their win streak come to an end on the road against the Northwood Timberwolves. The 18th-ranked Chargers fell 73-59 on Saturday, Feb. 4, their second GLIAC loss of the year.
The contest stayed even throughout the first half as Hillsdale and Northwood traded small runs. The Chargers went into halftime down by four, despite shooting a high percentage than their opponents. Sophomore forward Tim Dezelski and senior point guard Tyler Gerber led the team with eight points apiece.
Hillsdale couldn’t muster up a better second half, as the team shot 34% compared to Northwood’s 57%. The Timberwolves also out rebounded the Chargers 39-31.
Most importantly, the Chargers suffered from foul troubles. Sophomore guard and starter Brandon Pritzl fouled out and both starting center Nick Washburn and his backup Dezelski racked up four fouls by the end of the game. This led to 25 free throw attempts for the Timberwolves.
“We were trying to get a stop and so we tried to press and foul a bit to get back into the game,” Dezelski said.
Unfortunately, it was too little, too late for Hillsdale. “We were lethargic at both ends of the floor in the first half,” Washburn said. The second-half comeback was stymied by the Timberwolve’s great defense.
The GLIAC recently named Tyler Gerber Player of the Week, and he continued his fine play by scoring 20 points, including five three-pointers. But his effort wasn’t enough to overcome the foul trouble, poor shooting and rebounding deficiencies.
Entering the week, the Chargers were ranked 18th in the country, but their place in the polls is likely to drop after the loss. Hillsdale kept pace in their Southern Division, however, and in the GLIAC, as they maintained the lead on rivals Wayne State and Findlay. At 18-3 on the season and 12-2 in the conference, the Chargers are in great position to lock up the top seed in the GLIAC tournament. Their regional ranking still puts them on track for an NCAA tournament bid.
The Chargers will try and get back on track this week with two road games at Ohio Dominican tonight and at Tiffin University on Saturday. Both GLIAC South division teams have had tough seasons. Ohio Dominican is winless in the GLIAC and has only a 3-18 record, so tonight’s game is a must win against the Panthers. Tiffin has also played mediocre basketball this year, with only four wins in the conference, and Hillsdale has already beat the Dragons back on Jan. 7, 78-69.
With only three weeks left in the regular season, every win will push the Chargers a little closer to the coveted NCAA bid.
“We’re concentrating on hosting the GLIAC, winning it, and through that locking up the NCAA berth” Washburn said. “Tonight is going to be a refocusing effort. Every team in this league is talented, so we need to play the way we’re capable of and take care of business.”
Tonight the Chargers will seek to return to their winning ways. “We’ve prided ourselves on our defense and playing as team, and that’s what we need to get back to,” senior forward Brad Guinane said.
