Box score

January 13, 2011 - The 13-game season-opening winning streak put together by the Hillsdale College men's basketball team came to an end Thursday night.

The Chargers ran into a Wayne State University team that played clingy defense for 40 minutes, and went down to a 66-52 defeat before the season's biggest crowd, at Hillsdale College's Jesse Philips Arena. Hillsdale is now 13-1 overall and 7-1 in the GLIAC, and will host Grand Valley State University Saturday starting at 1 p.m.

The Chargers were held to a season-low 52 points by the Warriors, and shot just 34 percent from the field in the game. Hillsdale missed 16 of its 20 shots from 3-point territory, and were outscored 22-8 at the free throw line by WSU, all elements that added up to a 14-point loss for the Chargers.

Hillsdale has scored 50-plus points in a single half several times this season, making Wayne State's defensive effort all the more impressive. The Warriors did an outstanding job of not allowing the Chargers to get in any kind of offensive rhythm in the game, and forced Hillsdale to take shots outside the normal flow of its offense.

The Warriors helped themselves by going 14-for-17 from the free throw line in the second half, and outrebounded Hillsdale 36-31 in the game. This is the second straight game Wayne State has defeated a team ranked in the top five in the nation. The Warriors blew out Findlay 91-69=8 last Saturday in Detroit.

Hillsdale entered the contest ranked a program-best fourth in the nation.

Junior guard Tyler Gerber led Hillsdale with 16 points in 31 minutes. Junior Brent Eaton made his first three shots of the game, scoring the first seven points for the Chargers in the game. But WSU did a great job of adjusting its defense on the sharpshooting Eaton, holding him to six points in the final 34 minutes of the game. Eaton led the team with eight rebounds, while Gerber handed out three assists.

Five players scored in double figures for the Warriors, led by Ian Larkin's 14 points.