Hillsdale men’s basketball simply couldn’t catch a break this week as the Chargers lost both at home and on the road, sinking to a 13-6 record.
The Malone Pioneers, who are new to the GLIAC this year, beat Hillsdale 79-58 on Thursday. The Pioneers maintained their lead throughout the contest, effectively controlling the game’s tempo on both sides of the court.
Poor shooting and turnovers were the thorns in Hillsdale’s side as the Chargers shot a dismal 38% from the field and gave up 10 turnovers, which Malone converted into 15 points. Though they cut the lead to eight points in the final two minutes of the second half, the Chargers were unable to perform when it counted, missing their final six shots and allowing the Pioneers to end the game on a 13-0 run.
“Our effort on offense and defense was lackluster,” said junior guard Brandon Pritzl. “Coach Tharp has established a culture in our program of playing hard and our team prides itself on defending for 40 minutes. We unfortunately did not do that against a talented Malone team.”
Despite his team’s poor offensive turnout, Pritzl scored a season-high 19 points; 15 of those from behind the arc. Other top performers for Hillsdale were senior center Nick Washburn and junior forward Tim Dezelski, who each churned out 12 points.
“We weren’t attacking on Thursday,” said head coach John Tharp. “We were pretty tentative overall.”
Though they went on to improve offensively in their Saturday matchup, the Chargers suffered a heartbreaking 75-73 defeat to Walsh University at Jesse Philips Arena. Despite dominating the Cavaliers on offense for most of the game, the Chargers broke down in the final minutes as Walsh went on a 14-2 run to end the game.
Walsh’s victory hinged on aggressive play in the second half as the Cavaliers out-muscled the Chargers on the boards and converted 19 points off of turnovers.
“We played pretty well for about 34 minutes and then we just stopped guarding, we stopped rebounding the ball, and we turned the ball over,” said Tharp.
Hillsdale’s stats leaders included Washburn, who put up 18 points, and Dezelski, who had 14 points on 63% shooting along with eight rebounds. Pritzl also contributed 14 points, junior guard Darius Ware had 11, and junior forward Tony Nelson scored 10 points off the bench.
The Chargers hope to come back from their disappointing week with a victory over a tough Findlay team on Saturday at home.
“We will have to defend better as a team and wear out Findlay by running good motion offense,” Pritzl said. “Losses are not something we as a team enjoy; however, they are learning experiences and we need to continue to improve offensively and defensively every day.”
