Box Score The inner circle and the outer realm. The Hillsdale men's basketball team can go either way. When the Chargers did that on Saturday (Jan. 25), the Ashland University Eagles must have felt they were in No Man's Land
The Chargers shot 69.7 percent from the floor and 80 percent from three-point range on Saturday (Jan 25) and defeated the Eagles, 85-74 in a GLIAC game played in Hillsdale. The loss was Ashland's fourth straight and left the Eagles with a 6-10 record, 3-9 in the league.
On Thursday, Findlay shot 58.3 percent from the field. The Chargers made that look absolutely pedestrian. In the first half, the home team fired away at 71.4 percent (15-of-21) from the floor. What's amazing is that even with that marksmanship, the Chargers couldn't shake free from the Eagles until late in the game.
The Chargers (12-4/8-4) led, 13-4 before the game was six minutes old. The Eagles regrouped and led, 15-13 at the 10:10 mark of the first half. With 4:40 to play before the break the Eagles were on top, 25-24. It took a quick surge just before the intermission for the Chargers to regain the lead and go to the locker room with a 40-32 edge.
In the second half, AU was able to knock down that margin to four points, 66-62 with 5:16 left in regulation. But getting stops was a problem for the Eagles all afternoon and that spelled the difference in this game. HC scored five of the game's next six points and was ahead, 71-63 with 2:40 to play. The Eagles couldn't overcome that difference.
The Eagles had only nine turnovers (Hillsdale had 16) and that helped their cause - they led in points off of turnovers, 18-3. AU also got a great effort off the bench from freshman forward Wendell Davis. He had 18 points, making 7-of-8 shots from the floor and 4-of-6 tries at the free throw line.
Forward Will Evans, shackled at Findlay, rebounded to score 16 points and bring down six rebounds. Brook Turson scored 15 points.
HC's Brad Pritzl had 23 points to lead all players in the game. Pritzl went 14-of-16 at the free throw line. The Chargers made 31-of-39 free throw attempts (79.5 percent).
Tim Dezelski, the nation's fourth leading scorer, had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Kyle Cooper fired in 16 points. Anthony Manno had 11 points and Zach Miller scored 10 points.
The Eagles play at home this coming Thursday (Jan. 30, 7:30 p.m.) against Ohio Dominican.
AU
MBKB/ALK
