The Hillsdale College men’s basketball team came just a few shots away from escaping a tough stretch of games with a 2-1 record. But on Monday night against Findlay University, the Chargers fell just short, and now find themselves facing two virtually must-win games heading into the final stretch of the season.
The week started with a quality 86-71 victory over Malone University. Senior guard Anthony Manno led the way with 24 points and some fantastic 3-point shooting.
“Anthony Manno came out very impressively. It’s a great boost to the team when you have those threes falling,” senior Tim Dezelski said.
Manno converted six of his eight attempts from beyond the arc, an incredible 75% clip.
“Our 3-point shooting on Thursday was a result of us attacking the basket and then drawing defenders in,” sophomore forward Kyle Cooper said.
Unfortunately for the Chargers, Walsh University, the first place team in the South Division of the GLIAC, gave them a taste of their own medicine in an 82-58 rout on Saturday.
“We gave up too many dribble drives, and so when you’re preventing easy layups around the basket, you’ve got to give up something else, so they found their open guys and they hit open shots,” Cooper said about the loss.
“Our defense let us down,” Dezelski said.
The Chargers allowed 15 threes to Walsh in just 23 attempts, a very poor 65.2% from a defensive standpoint.
“We just got outcoached, got outplayed,” assistant coach Brian McCauley added.
The Chargers headed into Findlay, the second place team in the South Division of the GLIAC, the following Monday, looking to bounce back, but couldn’t convert in the closing minutes.
“We didn’t capitalize down the stretch. We had a couple open looks as the game was winding down that we missed,” Dezelski said.
During the last 10 minutes of the game, each team took multiple leads, but neither team could push their lead past three points. The Chargers took a 71-69 lead on a layup by Cooper with 1:47 left, but weren’t able to tack on any more points after that, leading to a 74-71 loss.
“It came down to our turnovers, and also the free-throw line,” McCauley said.
The Chargers shot eight of 15 from the charity stripe, a poor percentage especially considering how close the outcome of the game was. The Chargers now have seven games left, needing to win a vast majority, if not all of them, to have a chance to win the GLIAC.
“Our backs are against the wall,” McCauley said. “It’s time to pick up the pieces… we’ve just got to play them one at a time and try and make a little run here.”
“We’re still in the race for the GLIAC,” Cooper said. “There’s no time to dwell on the past.”
The Chargers will look to get on the right track tonight on the road against Tiffin University.
“They’ve got one of the best scorers in the league in (Joe) Graessle, and defensively they really mix up their defenses and always keep you guessing a little bit,” McCauley said about Tiffin.
After their game against Tiffin, the Chargers return home on Saturday to face Ohio Dominican, a team who beat the Chargers earlier in the season.
The Chargers will be looking for revenge and a couple of wins this week to keep their pursuit of the GLIAC crown alive.