The Hillsdale College men's basketball team couldn't overcome a double-digit first half deficit in a tough road loss at Northwood on Thursday night, 87-73.
The Chargers scored the first two baskets of the game to lead 5-0 two minutes in and played the Timberwolves to a 20-20 tie 12 minutes in, but Northwood used a 12-2 run over the next four minutes to build a 10 point lead, then took a 41-30 edge into halftime.
Hillsdale refused to go easily, making a real push in the second half. Trailing 61-50 with 12 minutes to go, Hillsdale got 3-pointers from
Cole McWhinnie and
Garrett Bolte to kick-start a 10-2 run that cut Northwood's lead to 63-60 with 8:24 to go. That was as close as Hillsdale would get, however, as Northwood scored on back-to-back possessions to push the lead back to seven, then gradually pulled away over the final eight minutes to end a seven-game losing streak to the Chargers.
Bolte had a strong night to lead Hillsdale, finishing with 15 points, six rebounds, two assists and two blocks, and fellow post player
Caleb Glaser chipped in 15 points on 7 of 10 shooting and six rebounds off the bench as well.
Connor Stonebraker added 12 points for the Chargers,
Ashton Janowski chipped in 10 and McWhinnie finished with seven points, four rebounds and four assists.
Hillsdale couldn't overcome a poor shooting night from 3-point range, finishing 5 for 22 from beyond the arc, and committed 14 turnovers that Northwood turned into 16 critical points. The Chargers did do a good job on the offensive glass to stay in the game, outrebounding the Timberwolves 35-30 with 11 offensive boards that the Chargers turned into 10 second-chance points.
The Chargers fall to 3-5 overall, 1-2 in G-MAC play and now step out of conference actions for a week of non-conference games before the Christmas break. Hillsdale travels to Quincy, Illinois on Tuesday to play in the Hansen-Spear Classic, taking on host Quincy on Tuesday and Truman State on Wednesday for two in-region games against GLVC foes. The Chargers close the week on Sunday, Dec. 21 by hosting McKendree at 1 p.m. in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena.
