Winning in basketball isn’t determined merely by which team shot the higher field goal percentage or grabbed more rebounds. If the Hillsdale College men’s basketball team had any doubt of that before this week, they learned it the hard way last Thursday at Malone University in a heart-breaking 81-80 defeat.
“When you shoot 60 percent and you outrebound them, you kind of feel that would lead to a victory,” sophomore Kyle Cooper said. “We couldn’t get stops when we needed them.”
“We just didn’t get it done,” assistant coach Brian McCauley added.
The Chargers were unable to find the bottom of the net in the final 2:08 of the game, a stretch in which the only point scored by either team was a Malone free throw that gave Malone its 81-80 win.
“Close games have been our kryptonite,” senior Tim Dezelski remarked. “But we’re learning, we’re taking everything as a positive right now.”
The Chargers got positive news shortly after their tough loss on Thursday, hearing that they had clinched a spot in the GLIAC tournament as a result of Wayne State University’s loss to Ferris State University.
“It’s wonderful to make the tournament,” McCauley said.
Hillsdale has now made it to the postseason in each of the seven years that head coach John Tharp has been leading the Chargers.
“It’s a little bittersweet,” Cooper added, referring to the Malone loss preceding clinching a spot in the tourney. “But it’s nice to make the postseason.”
The Chargers looked to get back on the right track against Walsh University on Saturday, Feb. 22, which was also Senior Day. All six seniors were honored in a pre-game ceremony. During the game, one senior especially stood out.
“You can’t say enough about what Tim Dezeleski does,” McCauley said in praise of the fifth-year senior.
Dezelski scored 33 points and garnered 16 rebounds, leading to a dominating 86-73 Hillsdale victory.
“Walsh gave it to us at their place, so we had a little extra revenge on our mind,” Dezelski said. “Everyone came out focused with a lot of energy.”
Hillsdale started the game on a quick 7-0 run, and never relinquished the lead throughout the whole game, only letting Walsh cut the deficit to as close as three in the second half.
“It’s an emotional day for all the seniors,” Cooper said. “We wanted to get in the right mindset for the playoffs, so we got it rolling here.”
The team will play their final game of the regular season tonight against second place University of Findlay, but won’t be treating it like a regular season game.
“There’s still a possibility that we get matched up to play Findlay in the GLIAC playoffs, so we’ve almost got to treat Thursday like it’s the GLIAC playoffs,” Cooper remarked. “We don’t want to get going to the postseason on a bad note, so we’re going to do everything we can to prepare and play our hearts out.”
The Chargers could finish as high as the fifth seed in the tournament, or finish as low as the eighth seed. The Chargers will look to finish off the season with a win in pursuit of hosting a GLIAC tournament game.