The Hillsdale College men's basketball team never said die in a critical home victory against Lake Erie on Saturday, rallying from a double-digit second half deficit to force overtime and outplaying the favored Storm in the two extra periods to pull off a stunning 96-86 win.

Hillsdale trailed for most of the game and by as many as 11 points in the second half, but got a huge spark from freshman Braylon Morris, who scored 25 of his career high 28 points in the second half and the two overtime periods to help the Chargers come from behind against Lake Erie. Morris sparked the run that got the Chargers back in the game with a thunder dunk on a baseline drive four minutes into the second half, then canned a 3-pointer to bring Hillsdale within two with eight and a half minutes to play, and helped Hillsdale stay in contact with a critical and-one down the stretch.

Down 67-63 with 1:19 to play, Garrett Bolte nailed a pull-up jumper from the elbow to cut the deficit to one possession, then, after a stop by the Chargers at the other end, Morris grabbed a defensive rebound and was fouled with Hillsdale in the bonus and trailing 67-65 with 26 seconds to play. Morris calmly made both ends of a one-and-one to tie the game, and another Chargers stop got Hillsdale to overtime.

The Chargers looked like they were going to run away with the game in the first overtime, as Bolte scored the first four points of the extra period and Morris knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give Hillsdale a six point lead. Lake Erie, however, showcased some tough shotmaking of its own, knocking down two high-difficulty 3-pointers in the final 50 seconds of the period to tie the game at 81 all and force a second overtime.

Once again, in the second overtime period, Hillsdale jumped out to the lead, on a 3-pointer by Cole McWhinnie on the opening possession, and a put-back by CJ Yarian to go up 86-81. This time, however, there would be no rally by the Storm, as Hillsdale pulled away, leading by as many as 13 in the second overtime period and keeping the Storm at bay to the final buzzer.

While Morris had the best game of his career to date, he had plenty of help from his teammates, as the Chargers finally found their rhythm offensively against the Storm. Ashton Janowski added 18 points, five assists and three steals and did a lot of work keeping Hillsdale in the game in the first half, while Bolte also had a huge second half and overtime to finish with a career-high 17 points along with five rebounds. McWhinnie added 14 points, six rebounds and three assists for Hillsdale, and freshman Paxton Giertz played critical minutes in overtime with Janowski fouling out and chipped in six points and two assists. CJ Yarian added five points and a team-leading 11 rebounds for the Chargers.

The victory is a big one for Hillsdale, as the Chargers improve to 3-4 on the season and avoid an 0-2 start in G-MAC play. Hillsdale hits the road this Thursday for a rivalry clash against Northwood at 7:30 p.m., in a game that will factor into the race for "The Jack" all-sports trophy between the two schools.