The Hillsdale College men's basketball team found its rhythm offensively in a big victory on Wednesday, defeating Truman State 88-84 in a neutral site contest in Quincy, Illinois for a much-needed bounce back win.

The Chargers started the game knocking down shots and never let up in the team's best shooting performance of the season, hitting 58.2% from the floor in the victory, along with a respectable 9 of 22 from 3-point range. Truman answered in kind with a strong shooting performance of their own, producing a back-and-forth contest where neither team led by more than six points at any point in the game.

With the game hanging in the balance, Hillsdale got great offensive execution down the stretch from some young players who seem to be growing up quickly. The last time the Chargers trailed in the contest was with just over 10 minutes to play, when freshman Braylon Morris buried a 3-pointer to put Hillsdale up 65-63, then stretched out the Chargers' lead with a layup off an offensive rebound on the ensuing possession.

Truman battled back to tie the game at 69 with 7:43 to play, and made several strong pushes to overtake the Chargers late, but Hillsdale closed out Truman down the stretch by continuing to score at a high clip. Freshman Paxton Giertz scored all eight of his points in the contest in the final eight minutes to keep the Bulldogs at bay, while Morris, who scored a team-leading 22 points in the victory, also continued to produce, with a critical layup with two minutes to play that kept Truman from getting the ball back with a chance to take the lead.

Hillsdale held off Truman with a balanced attack led by Morris, who shot 8 of 11 from the floor and knocked down five 3-pointers on the way to 22 points and three assists. Caleb Glaser had another strong game off the bench with 15 points, five rebounds and three assists on 6 of 8 shooting from the floor, and Tommy Morgan added a critical 13 points and four rebounds as well. 

Connor Stonebraker chipped in nine points, four rebounds and two assists for the Chargers, and Ashton Janowski added six point and a team-high five assists. 

Key to the Chargers' offensive success was unselfish basketball, as Hillsdale recorded 23 assists on 32 made shots, a season high against NCAA DII competition.

The win means the Chargers come home with a split at the Hansen-Spear Classic, hosted by Quincy, and Hillsdale (4-6, 1-2 G-MAC) now returns home to play McKendree at 1 p.m. in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena on Saturday, Dec. 21 in the Chargers' final contest before Christmas and a weeklong break.