Box Score Box Score
The 1000th point of Kyle Cooper's career is one sure to be remembered, if not by him, then by the fans who saw it.
Cooper achieved his milestone with a one-handed, breakaway layup less than two minutes into the second half of a 79-55 Charger men's basketball victory over Ohio Dominican Saturday afternoon at Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.
Hillsdale is now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the GLIAC, the first time the team has opened the season with five straight wins since the 2010-11 campaign.
Cooper came into Saturday's contest needing 21 points to become the 36th player in program history to score 1,000 points. As he does with most things in his life, he reached that goal and exceeded it, capping a dominant performance against the Panthers that saw him score 32 points to go along with 14 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. He shot 12-for-20 from the field and swished four 3-point baskets in Hillsdale's win. Nineteen of those points came in the first half, when he punished the ODU defense with an assortment of 3-pointers, short jumpers and turnaround shots from the painted area, showing off one of the finest all-around offensive arsenals in the nation.
But Cooper was far from the only effective Charger in the team's win, during which it shot 54 percent in the first half. Sophomore guard Ryan Badowski added 13 points, a career-high 8 rebounds and a pair of 3-point makes in 30 effective minutes on the floor.
Senior guard Zach Miller hit a pair of threes and had 7 points and 4 assists, while senior center Jason Pretzer, one of the team's most improved players, added 7 points and 5 rebounds.
The Chargers held the Panthers to 34 percent shooting from the field while enjoying a 47-32 rebounding advantage.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Greek twins Chris and Stef Giannakopolous each made their collegiate debuts late in the game for the Chargers. They are redshirt-freshman guards…Hillsdale was much-improved from 3-point land in this game, going 9-for-21 (43 percent) after a frigid performance from behind the arc Thursday night…Ohio Dominican's head coach is Dan Evans, a former assistant at Hillsdale…Chargers head coach John Tharp won his 143rd game as Hillsdale coach Saturday, moving him into second place on the school's career coaching wins list…He now only trails Ron Halsted (172 wins) in school annals.
UP NEXT: Hillsdale takes on Ashland at 8 p.m. Wednesday night in Ohio.
PHOTO CREDIT: Sarah Klopfer
