Box score

February 3, 2011 – Close games on the road have been the norm this season for the Hillsdale College men’s basketball team. And Thursday night, the Chargers were able to erase the bad taste of a loss in their previous game to get back on the winning track.

A 3-point shot by redshirt-freshman forward Tim Dezelski with three minutes left proved to be the difference-maker, as the Chargers defeated Lake Erie College 61-54 in Painesville, Ohio. Hillsdale, ranked 23rd in the nation in Division II, is now 16-3 overall and 10-3 in the GLIAC. The team will now return home for its next four games in a row, starting Saturday vs. Northwood University.

Dezelski’s shot broke a 50-50 tie, and gave Hillsdale a lead it wouldn’t lose for the rest of the game. Lake Erie missed three straight 3-point attempts following Dezelski’s shot, and each time, the Charger collected the defensive rebound. Holding a team to just one shot is key when preserving a small lead late in the game, and Hillsdale executed this part of the game to perfection.

Neither offense was clicking on all cylinders, as both teams shot 39 percent from the field. But a key to the Chargers’ victory was their aggressiveness on offense, which led to a 27-11 advantage in free throw attempts. The Chargers outscored the Storm 19-8 from the charity stripe, giving the visiting team a key edge in an otherwise evenly played game.

The Storm led the game 27-26 at halftime, but the Chargers improved to 35 second-half points. Just two players cracked double digits in scoring for Hillsdale, but Brad Guinane (15) and Brent Eaton (12) provided enough to pace Hillsdale. Dezelski scored nine off the bench, while senior guard Nick Meinert scored nine, and had a huge steal in the game’s final minute.

The 16th win of the season equals the most by the team in the four-year coaching tenure of John Tharp at Hillsdale.