The Hillsdale College men's basketball team struggled to get off the ground early in Thursday's road contest at Cedarville, and that slow start proved to be fatal in an 81-65 loss to the Yellow Jackets.

In a reversal of the January 11 meeting between the two teams hosted by Hillsdale, which saw the Chargers race out to a 17-2 lead on the way to a nearly 30-point victory, the first seven minutes of Thursday's contest were all Cedarville. The Yellow Jackets raced out to a 14-3 lead and never cooled off in the first half, shooting 7 of 13 from beyond the arc to take a big 39-24 lead into halftime.

While Hillsdale's offense found its rhythm in the second half, with 41 points, the Chargers never found a way to slow down Cedarville offensively, as the Yellow Jackets added 42 more points in the second half. Despite multiple runs, Hillsdale was unable to get the margin back to single digits.

Mikey McCollum was a bright spot for the Chargers with 23 points off the bench, shooting 70% from the floor and 50% from 3-point range. Charles Woodhams added 10 points and five rebounds, Eric Radisevic chipped in eight and Joe Reuter added six points, eight rebounds, three assists and four steals.

Hillsdale falls to 15-5 overall and 9-3 in the G-MAC, and now have lost three straight contests after a 15-2 start. The Chargers face the current second-place team in the G-MAC, Kentucky Wesleyan, on Saturday in a critical matchup for Hillsdale, which cannot fall further behind G-MAC leader Findlay if it hopes to stay in the title race down the stretch.