The Hillsdale Chargers men’s basketball team opened its season with a pair of wins at the 2022 Small College Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Lakeland, Florida.
Sophomore forward Joe Reuter and senior guard Kyle Goessler made the 2022 SCB HOF All Classic Team as the Chargers took down Dallas Baptist Patriots, 64-57, on Saturday and Valdosta St. Blazers, 79-65, on Sunday.
The games marked the team’s first true action since playing in Evansville, Indiana, in the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament Elite Eight game. The team’s run to Evansville came one year after making the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen for the first time in program history.
“A lot of us have played in a lot of meaningful games, so going down there, we were able to build on that experience,” Goessler said. “Obviously it’s a new team, so meshing with all the guys getting used to playing with each other, it’s been pretty seamless so far, but still a lot of work to do.”
Fresh off of a season where he won G-MAC Freshman of the Year, Reuter wasted no time picking up where he left off. In his first two career starts, he led the team in scoring and rebounding both nights, posting a game-high 17 points and a career-high 10 rebounds on Saturday, along with a career-high 22 points and eight rebounds on Sunday.
“At the end of the year last year, he was playing a lot of minutes as a freshman, getting a lot of really good experience,” Goessler said. “Joe’s the hardest working person I think I’ve ever seen.”
Goessler was the only other Charger to post double-figures in scoring in each of the games, with 16 points on Saturday and 14 on Sunday. He also added three assists and three rebounds against Valdosta St. and shot 5-of-9 from three across the two games.
“He’s one of our best on-ball defenders, he’s a super consistent scorer, he’s a great guy, I can’t speak enough about him,” Reuter said. “The term we use is quiet killer, because he just doesn’t say anything, just shows up, puts in the work, and you saw it in his performances.”
Fifth-year senior Peter Kalthoff also made the first two appearances in the starting lineup of his career, putting up eight points in each game, shooting more than 60% from the field. He also totalled 12 rebounds and four blocks across the two games.
“Peter Kalthoff in his first time starting had some major blocks and major baskets,” head coach John Tharp said. “Eric Radisevic had a beautiful weekend, did so many things, they had 15 and 11 that first night on Saturday five spot, those two guys made a lot of different plays.”
Senior guards Jack Gohlke and Cole Nau rounded out the starting lineup with solid performances, each recording eight points and four assists on Saturday.
Nau stuffed the stat sheet on Sunday with eight points, eight rebounds, five assists, and a pair of steals on 4-of-7 shooting from the field. Gohlke wasn’t far behind with 10 points, four assists, and three rebounds to go along with two steals.
According to Tharp, it was his guards’ play on the defensive side of the ball that stood out.
“I thought Kyle and Cole Nau, defensively, against the guards that we saw, were elite,” Tharp said. “Both programs that we faced had two elite guards on the floor, so four total guards, and they did an incredible job of guarding them.”
Hillsdale went deep into its bench during both of its games, with 10 different Chargers checking into each of the matchups. Freshman guard Ashton Janowski made his first collegiate in-game appearance, recording making his first ever field goal attempt and adding a pair of assists as well.
The team now looks ahead to its home opener on Friday at 7 p.m. against Wayne State University Warriors.
“It’s super exciting after a long road trip, it’s definitely nice being back on our home turf,” Goessler said. “Inter-region games are always big, especially early on in the year, they can have a big impact on tournament bids when the end of the year comes around.”
