Ahead of the toughest stretch of its season, the Hillsdale men’s basketball team beat a pair of conference opponents to maintain the top spot in the G-MAC and move from 11th to ninth in the National Association of Basketball Coaches national poll.

The Chargers took down the Cedarville Yellow Jackets, 79-70, at home before traveling to Northwood and beating the Timberwolves, 84-54. The weekend lengthened the team’s win streak to three games and helped keep its game-and-a-half lead at the top of the G-MAC standings.

Fifth-year senior center Peter Kalthoff won his second G-MAC Player of the Week Award in the last three weeks. He averaged 19.5 points and 7.5 rebounds on the weekend, and moved into ninth place in the conference in scoring, with a 13.7 point-per-game average on the season.

“He’s waited his turn, he’s only gotten better and better,” head coach John Tharp said. “He’s had an incredible attitude, he’s been an incredible teammate, and he’s worked incredibly hard.”

Despite the two wins, the team’s toughest tests — on paper at least — still remain. Hillsdale’s next three opponents sit two, one, and three spots respectively behind the Chargers for the conference lead.

The slate of contending opponents begins on Thursday at 7:30 against Ashland, who sits two-and-a-half games back from the Chargers. The Eagles held on at the buzzer to take a 53-52 win in Hillsdale last season.

“Last year at our place they beat us. That definitely still leaves a sour taste in my mouth, as with many of my teammates, but we’re looking forward to the opportunity to reclaim our home gym,” Kalthoff said. “They’re a physical, athletic team. It’s gonna be a challenge, but I think we’re gonna be prepared. I’m looking forward to it.”

Though this will be the team’s first matchup with Ashland this season, it is fresh off of a win over another title contender. Despite a late run from Cedarville, Hillsdale used balanced, efficient scoring to deal a huge blow to the Yellow Jackets’ title hopes.

“We did really well as a team, played really well on defense for the first 35 minutes, then kind of had a few lapses there at the end,” senior guard Kyle Goessler said. “It’s a big win, that is a really good team, it’s always a battle playing them.”

Goessler led the team with 19 points on nine shots. He was followed closely by fifth-year seniors Jack Gohlke and Kalthoff, who scored 18 and 16 points respectively. Sophomore Joe Reuter rounded out the double-digit scorers for Hillsdale, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 boards on the way to his third double-double of the season.

Though senior guard Cole Nau dropped a game-high six assists, his impact on the defensive side of the ball is what stood out. 

“I thought Cole Nau did a terrific job on Maughmer, who I think is maybe the most talented player in the league,” Tharp said. “He’s so talented, he’s gonna score, but I thought we did a decent job of making things relatively difficult, not giving him anything easy.”

The Chargers followed up the win with an 84-54 win over Northwood two days later. The final score, however, was not indicative of a first half that saw the Timberwolves shoot nearly 60% from the floor, finding themselves down just eight at halftime.

“We were forcing them into some tough shots, but the shots were falling for them, so obviously we weren’t satisfied,” Goessler said. “We knew to just keep playing hard, come out in the second half with a little more tenacity.”

The second half proved far more lopsided, with Hillsdale outsourcing Northwood 49-27 after halftime. The Chargers shot better than 60% from both the field and the three-point line in a second half that saw Kalthoff score 16 of his game-high 23 points.

“They were a small team, so we attacked them with our size a little bit,” Kalthoff said. “I definitely got to feel the results of that, so that was great, but it could be anybody any night.”

Gohlke and Goessler each scored in double-figures again as well, with 14 and 12 points respectively.

Hillsdale will now turn to a team with a balanced scoring attack similar to its own, as the Eagles boast four players averaging at least nine points per game.

“They’re outstanding, they have tremendous quickness, size, and athletic ability, and they can shoot it, they’re an outstanding basketball team,” Tharp said. “We’re gonna have to do it collectively, like we’ve been trying to do it the entire year.”