The Hillsdale College men's basketball team put a stop to its road woes this season and earned a huge victory over a long-time rival on Thursday night, defeating Findlay 78-72.

Hillsdale raced out to a massive lead, blitzing the host Oilers in the first half with 47 points on 52.8% shooting from the floor and holding Findlay to just 25 points on 38.5% shooting to take a 22 point edge into halftime. Hilsdale comfortably broke Findlay's vaunted full-court press, finishing with just two turnovers in the half, and the Chargers diced up a lax Oilers defense in the half court, repeatedly catching Findlay off-guard on backdoor cuts and pick and roll actions for easy baskets. When Findlay tried to adjust defensively, Hillsdale countered by knocking down open 3-pointers, going 7 for 15 in the first half.

The Chargers maintained their lead for much of the second half, holding a 69-48 edge with seven minutes to play, but Findlay caught fire down the stretch, hitting two 3-pointers and converting two and-ones as part of an 18-2 run that brought the Oilers within two possessions with 2:06 remaining. With the game slipping away, Hillsdale held its composure down the stretch, going 7 for 8 from the free throw line to take some of the pressure off, and getting enough stops in the final minute to keep Findlay at arm's length. Despite the strong late charge, the Oilers never had the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead in the second half.

Hillsdale got huge nights from its post players in the victory, as a taller and more physical Chargers team took full advantage of mismatches inside. Center CJ Yarian finished with a season-high 16 points and 10 rebounds for the second double-double of his career, along with five assists, while Connor Stonebraker had another impact game off the bench with 16 points and five rebounds of his own. 

Leading the way for the Chargers was senior point guard Ashton Janowski, who poured in 21 points to lead all scorers and was a key player in both halves offensively. Garrett Bolte chipped in nine points as well for Hillsdale.

Not to be underestimated in the victory was a stellar defensive effort by the Chargers, who held the top scoring team in the G-MAC to nearly 20 points below their season average in the victory. Against a team that wanted to play in transition, Hillsdale gave up zero fast-break points in the victory over the Oilers, and played tenaciously in the half-court to keep Findlay in check.

Hillsdale improves to 8-10 with the victory, and 5-5 in the G-MAC with what is just the Chargers' second road win of the season. It's also an impressive rare victory over their rivals on the road -- just Hillsdale's fourth victory over Findlay in Croy Gymnasium in 37 trips since the 1950s. The Chargers will look to build off this win with a return to friendlier confines on Saturday, as Hillsdale hosts another old foe, Ashland, at 3 p.m. in Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena for an important G-MAC contest.