Freshman Tommy Morgan leans back to  throw ball into basket.
Courtesy | Ashley Van Hoose

The Chargers men’s basketball team defeated Kentucky Wesleyan College, a higher ranked team in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference, 79-68 Feb. 19 at home, but fell to Ohio Dominican University 91-76 Feb. 21 on the road.

“The win meant a lot, especially at this point in the season,” sophomore forward Connor Stonebraker said. “We’ve been struggling a little bit lately, and a win like that at home against a team we lost to earlier this season felt great.”

The Chargers are now 10-16 on the season and 7-11 in Great Midwest Athletic Conference play. They remain outside the G-MAC tournament picture in ninth place, with the top eight teams making the field for the March tournament.

The Chargers put the first points on the board, but Kentucky Wesleyan quickly answered. The teams stayed within a shot of each other, tying the game up 20-20 with just over 11 minutes remaining in the half. The teams swapped the lead six times in the first half, but Hillsdale managed to finish on top, leading 41-36. 

“The pace felt very fast compared to our recent games,” freshman guard Tommy Morgan said. “That was an emphasis for us going into the game, and I felt it helped us keep momentum and get into our offense quickly.”

Coming out of the half, Kentucky Wesleyan overtook Hillsdale 60-56 in a run of 3-pointers with nine minutes left to play, but the Chargers made a couple shots in the paint to make it 60-all. Hillsdale built a lead which kept them from falling too far behind the rest of the game, and led them to secure a win at the end.

JUMP

Although they were missing their leading scorer, senior guard Ashton Janowski, Hillsdale made up for it with four players scoring double digits, led by junior forward Caleb Glaser at 22, then senior guard Cole McWhinnie at 14, and freshman guards Braylon Morris and Morgan both scoring 12. The close battle continued in the second half, with the lead changing six more times before the final buzzer. The Chargers scored 50 points in the paint throughout the game and capitalized on their fast-break points, keeping the quick tempo of the game.

Assistant coach Jackson McLaughlin said he was proud of the team for their performance.

“It was a great win for our guys,” McLaughlin said. “I thought we had a great week of practice prepping them and I thought they were very well prepared for what was coming.”

On Saturday, Hillsdale got off to a slow start in their game against Ohio Dominican, as they were outscored 20-3 in the first seven minutes. 

“Ohio Dominican did a really good job of being physical with us, blowing up a lot of our screening actions,” McLaughlin said. “We weren’t able to get the offense running and with a lull on that end, it’s just hard to compete with them. And on the defensive end, they did a great job transitioning and getting quick, early baskets that we didn’t get matched up on time.”

Ohio Dominican held and built their lead the entire game, despite Hillsdale matching their points scored in the second half. Stonebraker led the team in scoring with 15 points for the game, McWhinnie followed with 14, and Morgan with 13.

The Chargers face Findlay University Feb. 26 and Northwood University Feb. 28 for Senior Day at home at 3 p.m.