Despite a scorching hot start by its Thursday night opponent, the #20/23 Hillsdale College men's basketball team never wavered on the way to a 75-64 win at home over a dangerous Walsh team.

The victory is Hillsdale's fifth straight and helps the Chargers remain tied for first place in the G-MAC with a 9-0 record so far.

Hillsdale trailed the Cavaliers by as many as nine points in the first half as Walsh shot the lights out to start, hitting 80% of their shots from the floor and 100% from 3-point range in the first 12 minutes.

Despite the early hole, Hillsdale never deviated from its game plan, going on a 10-0 run over 90 seconds starting at the six minute mark in the first half that was punctuated by back-to-back 3-pointers from Mikey McCollum and Charles Woodhams. That turned a 29-20 deficit into a 30-29 Hillsdale lead, and allowed the Chargers to go into halftime with a 37-35 edge despite Walsh's hot start to the game.

In the second half, the Chargers put the clamps on the upset-minded Cavaliers defensively, holding them to just 37% shooting from the floor and 23% shooting from 3-point range to pull away. Hillsdale rode big second half performances from McCollum, who scored 14 of his 18 team-leading 18 points after the break, and from center Eric Radisevic, who got a big and-one early in the second half to help the Chargers open up a double-digit lead that would hold up to the end of the game despite multiple comeback attempts from Walsh.

Hillsdale made great use of its size advantage in the paint, highlighted by Radisevic, who scored 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting. The Chargers outrebounded Walsh 36-25 and grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, many of those coming in the second half as Hillsdale pulled away from the Cavaliers.

Balanced scoring made a difference for Hillsdale too. Four players scored in double figures fo Hillsdale in the victory, with Woodhams and Ashton Janowski each chipping in 12 points as well. Senior Joe Reuter had an excellent all-around game, contributing seven points but also leading all players with 11 rebounds and chipping in three assists and three steals. 

The Chargers are now 15-2 overall with the victory but have another tough task on Saturday as Hillsdale travels to Painesville, Ohio to face a Lake Erie team that took a last second score for the Chargers to beat in a 75-72 home win on January 4. A victory over the Storm would set up a titanic showdown with G-MAC co-leader and arch-rival Findlay at home on Jan. 25 the following Saturday, in a contest that could match up two of the top 20 teams in NCAA Division II. Hillsdale can't afford to get caught looking ahead, however, as Lake Erie is more than dangerous enough to play spoiler this weekend.

Photo by Hope Canlas