Two impressive accomplishments -- a milestone and a career high -- by two post players helped the #5/#7 Hillsdale College men's basketball team run away from host Northwood on Saturday night.
Hillsdale took an 83-61 victory over the Timberwolves. The game was close early, with Hillsdale leading just 28-25 at the 10:40 mark in the first half, but the Chargers went on a 17-4 run from that point to seize control and never let the lead fall back to single digits from there.
Key for the Chargers was another monster game from junior Patrick Cartier, who followed up a 34-point performance in a win over Saginaw Valley St. on Friday night with 30 points and five rebounds against the Timberwolves. That scoring performance pushed Cartier past the 1,000 point mark, making him the 39th Charger in program history to surpass the milestone with at least two, possibly three more years of eligibility remaining.
Cartier was backed up by sophomore Noah Applegate, who played a career-high 17 minutes off the bench for the Chargers and responded with 14 points, another career high, four rebounds and two assists. The pair of Cartier and Applegate in the paint was too much for an undersized Northwood squad that starts four guards to handle defensively.
Junior Tavon Brown also had a strong game for Hillsdale, filling up the stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds, two steals and three blocks, freshman Joe Reuter added seven points and junior Jack Gohlke chipped in six points and four assists.
The Chargers had a pronounced edge in the paint over Northwood, outrebounding the Timberwolves 44 to 35 and finishing with a 44 to 28 edge in points in the paint. Hillsdale also committed just six turnovers and got 34 points off the bench in a game they led for nearly 38 full minutes.
Now 2-0 overall, Hillsdale looks toward its home opener on Wednesday against a perennial Midwest Regional power, Ferris State, at 7 p.m. The Bulldogs, who are 1-0 this year with a game against Drury tomorrow, should provide another measuring stick for the Chargers as the team looks to round into form before G-MAC play begins in December.
Photo by Anthony Lupi '22