Hillsdale 70, Ohio Dominican 59


February 16, 2012 – The six senior players on the Hillsdale College men’s basketball team enjoyed their final regular season game on the Jesse Philips Arena court Thursday night, while making history at the same time.

The seniors combined for 27 points in the Chargers’ 70-59 win over Ohio Dominican University. The win gives the Chargers the outright GLIAC South Division championship for the first time in school history. Hillsdale shared the South Division crown with Gannon University in the 2000-01 season.

Hillsdale holds a two-game lead over Wayne State and Findlay with two games remaining for each team. Although both Wayne State and Findlay won their games Thursday, the Chargers would win all two-way and three-way tiebreakers with those teams, should a tie end up taking place. Hillsdale is now 20-5 overall and 15-3 in conference play, and faces Saginaw Valley State University on the road Saturday night.

The Chargers’ lead for the top spot overall in the GLIAC also grew Thursday night, by virtue of Wayne State’s overtime win over Ferris State. Hillsdale now holds a game-and-a-half lead over the Bulldogs for the top spot in the conference standings.

In its win over Ohio Dominican, Hillsdale was able to put enough spurts of good play together to shake loose a determined opponent. Two key sequences in the second half swung the game in Hillsdale’s favor.

A low-scoring first half (47 total points) slowed to a crawl in the second half, when neither team scored for the first 3:11. But over the next four minutes, the teams combined for 22 points, 16 coming from the Chargers as they extended their lead to double figures for the first time. A dynamic fast-break basket to Ryan Choiniere from Tyler Gerber finished off the run, making the players on the Hillsdale bench bounce in the air with excitement.

A few minutes later, the Panthers cut the lead back down to eight, 53-45, with 6:23 to play. A lead that was just small enough to give ODU some hope at a comeback. But a layup by sophomore guard Brandon Pritzl was given credit for a continuation basket on the play, with a foul being called on the Panthers. A big argument ensued, and ODU’s bench was called for a technical foul. Pritzl finished off the three-point play, while senior Brent Eaton hit both technical free throws to make it a rare five-point possession for Hillsdale. The lead instantly grew from eight to 13 points, and the Panthers never threatened after that.

Four players scored in double figures for Hillsdale, led by 13 from Eaton, one of the team’s six seniors. He drained three 3-point baskets, and had his biggest scoring output since Dec. 30.

Brad Guinane finished with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals while logging 39 minutes on the floor. Pritzl had his sixth-straight double-figure scoring game with 12. He had five career double-digit scoring games before this current run of six such games.

Sophomore Tim Dezelski came off the bench to provide 10 points, seven rebounds and a steal in 23 minutes.

If Hillsdale can beat Saginaw Valley State Saturday, and if Findlay can top Ferris State, the Chargers would clinch the overall #1 seed in the upcoming GLIAC Tournament.