The Hillsdale men’s basketball team fell in a last-second thriller in Kentucky, snapping its four-game win streak, before bouncing back with a dominant win over Trevecca Nazarene.
The game against Kentucky Wesleyan marked the team’s second loss of the season, both since starting conference play. The team dropped from seventh to 11th in this week’s National Association of Basketball Coaches national poll.
Losses from other key teams in the conference, however, mean that the Chargers maintain the lead in the G-MAC, and hold a game-and-a-half lead over both Walsh and Ashland.
Injuries to Hillsdale’s frontcourt and two first-half fouls for fifth-year forward Peter Kalthoff allowed Kentucky’s big men to cause the Chargers problems defensively.
“Their two-big lineup was tough,” senior guard Kyle Goessler said. “Those are two really good players and really big bodies. We haven’t seen many teams run a lineup like that, so it was a little bit of an adjustment.”
Hillsdale spent much of the second half playing a zone defense, something the team utilizes infrequently.
“We got hurt inside a little bit,” head coach John Tharp said. “So we mixed a couple of our zone defenses up to try to give us the best chance to win. We had some success with it – had some not very successful things with it as well.”
Nearly the entire second half of the game was back-and-forth, with no team leading by more than five in the final eight minutes and 40 seconds. During that stretch, the Chargers made just two field goals, a layup from sophomore guard Charles Woodhams, and a jumper from sophomore Joe Reuter with 1:51 remaining to extend Hillsdale’s late lead.
Five straight points followed Reuter’s bucket as Kentucky grabbed a one-point lead with 46 seconds left. Three jumpers, however, one by Goessler and two by Reuter, just missed, giving Kentucky the win.
“I felt confident in the shot, when I released it, it felt good going in, and it just hit back rim,” Reuter said. “And the second shot was more of just improvising, just had to get a shot up, and that one felt even better, and that was just off too.”
Reuter said he doesn’t regret the shots, and that his teammates expressed their continued support of him following the game. He finished with a game-high 18 points as well as four assists, six rebounds, and three steals.
The Chargers followed up their loss with a 77-36 defeat of Trevecca Nazarene, their largest single-game scoring margin of the season. Hillsdale held Trevecca to just 11% shooting from three, and forced 17 turnovers.
“It certainly felt good to bounce back,” Goessler said. “It’s really important to respond after a tough loss like that on Thursday, so it was nice to get back. With a short turnaround it was nice not to really dwell on the loss, just another opportunity to get back out there, play as a team, play well.”
Four Chargers finished with double-figures in scoring, led by Goessler and Reuter with 16-a-piece. Kalthoff and Woodhams weren’t far behind, each chipping in 10 points. By the end of the game, 11 different Chargers had made a field goal.
“We moved the basketball, we really guarded at a high level, I think they executed what we tried to get done from a gameplan standpoint, I was proud of them,” Tharp said. “We had a lot of guys that helped us make plays off the bench align with our starters, I thought they handled themselves really well.”
Hillsdale’s record moved to 17-2 overall and 10-2 in G-MAC play. They will return home, where they remain undefeated this season, for a matchup against Cedarville on Thursday before going on the road to Northwood on Saturday.
“Cedarville’s one of the best teams in the league, I think the league is incredibly even,” Tharp said. “There’s an amazing amount of balance, a lot of teams that have the ability to beat each other. I think Cedarville may have probably the best player in the league on their roster, just a tough guy to match up with.”
