Junior forward Joe Reuter is averaging 15.8 points per game for Hillsdale this season. Courtesy | Hillsdale College Athletic Department
The Charger men’s basketball team improved to 12-7 on the year, besting Northwood University Timberwolves 92-75 at home Thursday, but dropping Saturday’s game to the Cedarville University Yellow Jackets 68-56.
Going into Thursday, the Timberwolves were 1-7 in G-MAC play, and 4-12 overall. Their record puts them at second-to-last in the G-MAC, just ahead of the Ohio Dominican Panthers.
Meanwhile, Cedarville sat at the top of the conference going into Saturday, and remained in the number one team with a 9-1 conference record after beating Hillsdale on Saturday, which remains seventh in the G-MAC.
The Chargers had one of their best offensive performances against the Timberwolves, shooting 54% from the field as a team.
Senior guard Charles Woodhams led the charge for Hillsdale on Thursday, making all eight of his shot attempts in the first half, including four 3-pointers. Woodhams finished with 22 points, which is the second most he has had in a game this season.
“Honestly I think the tone was set by the way our entire team played the first half,” Woodhams said. “We are a much better team when we play at a faster pace and I was just fortunate enough to get some open shots as a result of that.”
Woodhams also had 10 rebounds and 3 assists, as well as a block and a steal. The senior finished 9-12 from the field, giving him his best field goal percentage mark of the season at 75%.
In addition to Woodhams, junior forward Joe Reuter had a heavy contribution to the Charger victory. Reuter finished the day with 16 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and still leads Hillsdale in scoring with 15.8 points per game.
“I think one of the key things was our confidence in our offense and our confidence in shooting the ball,” Reuter said. “I think offensively we moved it really well and we were able to get open shots almost every time down the floor, and that’s one of the things that we have really improved on since the start of the year.”
Senior center Eric Radisevic and freshman guard Mikey McCollum contributed to the victory from the bench, scoring 13 and 7 points respectively.
Sophomore guard Ashton Janowski provided 13 points, and 3 steals as well.
“I thought we had a really good pace to our play offensively and I thought our guys guarded really well,” head coach Keven Bradley said.
Despite the loss to Cedarville, Reuter still had a heavy contribution to the Charger effort, scoring 18 points and grabbing 15 rebounds.
Reuter was the only Charger to put up double-digits in rebounding, and Janowski was the only other Charger to put up double-digit points with 12.
“Obviously a tough loss, but I think our second half defense and how we came out to start the game gave us the confidence that we can play and make runs against top scoring and really good teams,” Reuter said. “So I think that’s something we can take moving forward.”
Sophomore center C.J. Yarian, who has been the starting center for the Chargers for most of the season, had 8 rebounds and 2 points against Cedarville, along with 2 assists and a block. Yarian has averaged 5.6 rebounds per game this season.
The Chargers will begin the month of February with three road games. They will first travel to Ohio to face the Tiffin University Dragons on Thursday, February 1.
The Chargers are 1-0 against Tiffin this year, beating them at home 56-51 earlier this season.
After that, Hillsdale will face two conference rivals, starting with Walsh University on Feb. 8, and Lake Erie College on Feb. 10.
