Courtesy: Ashley Van Hoos

The Hillsdale men’s basketball team defeated Findlay 78–72 Jan. 22, but fell to Ashland 82–72 at home two days later. The Chargers now have a 5–6 conference record and an 8–11 overall record.

With their victory against their long-time rival Findlay, the Chargers took a step toward evening the season record between the two teams. 

Senior guard Ashton Janowski said the history between these two teams strengthened the intensity of the game.

“We came in knowing it was a rivalry game and that they beat us both times last year, which didn’t sit well with us,” Janowski said. “We also knew that if we followed our gameplan, that we would be successful, so between our energy starting the game and our attention to detail, we were able to pull off a great start.”

Hillsdale took the lead quickly and outscored Findlay 47–25 in the first half. 

Senior guard Cole McWhinnie said the team’s first-half performance was crucial for the win.

“We did a really nice job taking care of the ball against Findlay’s pressure and making them play the game at our pace,” McWhinnie said. “We took away their transition opportunities and made them execute in the half court, which made them uncomfortable as an up-tempo team.”

The Chargers held their lead for the rest of the game, holding Findlay back 74–70 with 17 seconds left of the game to piece together a run that left the game within two possessions. 

“In the second half, we had some defensive lapses that led to easy baskets for Findlay, but we did enough work to build a lead early on that we were able to respond and pull out a big road win in a fun environment,” McWhinnie said.

Against Ashland, Hillsdale struggled defensively, allowing a 67.2% shooting percentage and 64 points in the paint but managed to keep the game close. The Chargers held a lead through the first half and into the second. 

As the game continued, Hillsdale experienced foul trouble and put Ashland in the bonus, allowing them to score points at the line and close the gap. Ashland put together a 13-2 run after the game was tied at 66-all which proved too much for the Chargers to counter.

“You always worry after a great road game that you might come out flat the next game — people call it a trap game because of this,” head coach Keven Bradley said. “So I was really proud of the guys because we did not do that but built ourselves a lead and played well for the first half. Unfortunately, we just did not do a good job of maintaining our concentration and executing some things, which led them to a big run and lots of fouls on our end which allowed them to get the win.”

Sophomore forward Connor Stonebraker said the team is looking forward to their upcoming games.

“Coming off a loss, I know the team will be hungry to get back on the court for another opportunity,” Stonebraker said. “It is our job to continue to work to reach our full potential as a team, no matter the outcome of a previous game.”

The Chargers next will face Walsh University on the road Jan. 31.