February 7, 2008 - Games in Gannon's Hammermill Center have historically been loud and intense. Thursday night's matchup between the Golden Knights and Hillsdale College was no different.

A wild affair ended later than expected, as Gannon edged the Chargers 90-75 Thursday night in Erie, Pa. Hillsdale falls to 12-10 overall and 6-7 in the GLIAC with the loss. Gannon, ranked 10th in the nation, is now 20-2 overall in conference play.

This was a game that had a little of everything. Four technical fouls (two on each team), exchanged big leads and long runs by each team. Gannon had the longest run in the latest part of the game, and that turned out to be the difference.

The Golden Knights outscored the Chargers 16-1 in the overtime session, and 22-1 in the game's final seven minutes overall, to battle back to win the game. Hillsdale found itself down 11 in the first half, but slowly came back and led through much of the second half in one of the most hostile environments in Division II.

Junior guard Keith MacKenzie scored nine straight points himself to bring the Chargers into their first lead of the game, 56-54, with 11:22 left in the second half. He added a basket and a 3-pointer to give the Chargers their biggest leadof the game, 61-54, with 10:07 left in the second half.

Junior Evan Steward drained a 3-pointer to push Hillsdale up six, 72-66, with 2:57 remaining in the game. Two more MacKenzie free throws extended Hillsdale's lead to 74-69 with 1:59 left in the game. Hillsdale would only score one more point the rest of the way.

Gannon scored the final five points of regulation to knot the game at 74-74. The Golden Knights did an excellent job of taking advantage of their huge edge on the free throw line in the game.

Gannon outscored Hillsdale 38-17 from the line, and attempted more than twice as many free throws as the Chargers in the game (50-24). Four different Chargers fouled out of the game, and Hillsdale was whistled for 32 fouls, compared to 20 for Gannon. Gannon's 50 free throws attempted in a game are a school record.

MacKenzie finished with 28 points, four rebounds and five assists. He hit five 3-point field goals in the game. Senior Tim Homan added 17 points and five rebounds in 37 minutes before fouling out. Junior Tony Gugino had 13 points, eight rebounds and two blocked shots. Center Chris Skaggs turned in a nice effort off the bench with 10 points and eight rebounds.

Joe Lindsay led Gannon with a career-high 24 points.

The Chargers will stay in Erie through the weekend, and will take on Mercyhurst College at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Box score