The Hillsdale College men's basketball team ended up on the losing end of a bruising physical contest with Ashland on Saturday at home, falling 82-72 late.
Both teams played tough defense and refused to back down in a contest that saw 34 fouls called and 41 free throws attempted. Hillsdale got the better of the Eagles in the first half, shooting 61% from the floor with five 3-pointers and leading by as many as seven before taking a 42-38 lead into the break.
The Chargers surged out of halftime, getting to the rim with layups on three consecutive possessions to take an 11 point edge, 53-42, two and a half minutes into the period. But that was the high water mark for Hillsdale, which suffered through multiple droughts offensively in the second half that allowed Ashland to first cut into, and then take over the lead.
The Chargers were tied at 66-all with the Eagles with 5:08 to play after two free throws by
Braylon Morris, but Ashland countered with an 13-2 run over the next four minutes to put the game out of reach as the Eagles got to the rim while Hillsdale was unable to find the bottom of the net offensively. That run proved fatal as Hillsdale trailed by double-digits with under a minute to play.
Hillsdale shot an impressive 53.8% from the floor offensively but struggled to slow down the Eagles, who got to the rim consistently and converted an impressive 67.3% of their shots. Ashland shot just 57.1% from the free throw line but got 28 attempts in the contest, allowing the Eagles to hold a 16-11 advantage in those points as well. When Ashland did miss, they were efficient at converting second-chance opportunities into baskets, turning eight offensive rebounds into 13 points.
Ashton Janowski led four double-digit scorers for the Chargers, finishing with a team-high 17 points and four assists, while
Garrett Bolte added 14 points and
CJ Yarian put up a second-straight double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds as well.
Braylon Morris added 13 points and three steals off the bench for the Chargers, while
Tommy Morgan just missed giving Hillsdale five double-digit scorers with eight points, and
Cole McWhinnie added five assists.
Hillsdale is now 8-11 overall, 5-6 in G-MAC play and has a critical road conference game next Saturday at nationally-ranked Walsh, who is now two games clear of the rest of the G-MAC atop the standings at 9-2 overall. It'll be a tough contest for the Chargers, who lost 76-64 to the Cavaliers earlier this month, but a huge opportunity as well for a high-quality road win that could give Hillsdale an important edge in a crowded race for the eight G-MAC Tournament spots. Tip-off is at 3 p.m. next Saturday in North Canton, Ohio.
