Oilers Fall to Hot Shooting #6 Hillsdale
Box Score
Post Game with Associate Head Coach Dan Shardo (Tim Montgomery – 88.3 WLFC)
Hillsdale, Mich. – The University of Findlay men's basketball team traveled to Hillsdale, Michigan to take on the sixth-ranked Hillsdale College Chargers on Thursday, Dec. 15 in an important early-season matchup. The Chargers hot shooting was too much for the Oilers as Findlay would suffer an 80-62 defeat to fall to 6-4 on the year with a 2-2 mark in Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) play. Hillsdale, which made the NCAA Division II Elite Eight last season, improves to 11-0 with a 4-0 record in the league.
Billed as a battle of two premier programs in the Great Midwest, early on in Thursday's contest it looked like the game might be headed for another classic finish, as Hillsdale and Findlay have done so many times before.
Through 11 minutes of action, Hillsdale held a 22-19 lead as the teams exchanged blows, but with nine minutes to play in the first half, senior Nathan Bruns picked up his second foul, forcing him to the bench early in the contest. He would join his fellow starter, senior Deven Stover who had also committed a pair of early fouls.
A triple by senior Joey Edmonds, who would end up shouldering much of the offensive load with the Oilers' leading scorer on the bench, tied the game at 22-22. In less than three minutes, Hillsdale exploded on an 11-0 run thanks to a pair of triples by sharpshooter Joe Reuter, giving the Chargers a 33-22 lead and forcing a Findlay timeout.
Hillsdale remained relentless in the closing minutes of the first half, hitting four more three-point buckets before the buzzer, plus one from three-quarters court after time expired, to take a 49-35 lead at the half. Although that long attempt came just after the horn sounded, it added to the perception that the Chargers simply could not miss.
Findlay did not go away quietly and multiple times cut Hillsdale's lead to single-digits, but the sixth-ranked team in the country kept the Oilers at arms-length with big buckets time and again, ultimately going on to an impressive 18-point victory.
The Oilers made 24-of-51 (.471) from the floor including 6-of-17 (.353) from deep while Hillsdale made 31-of-57 (.544) and a red-hot 13-of-25 (.520) from three-point range. It is the fourth time this season that the Chargers, who shoot 40% as a team from beyond the arc, have made double-digit three-pointers.
Turnovers hurt Findlay as well as the Oilers 13 miscues turned into 19 points for Hillsdale. On the flip side, the Chargers had just eight turnovers which turned into nine points for Findlay.
Emonds was the leading scorer for Findlay with 20 points on 8-of-15 from the floor including 4-of-7 from deep. He also had three rebounds and a team-high two assists. Bruns finished with ten points, four rebounds, and one assist while senior Eisley Swaine and freshman Jagger Landers each scored nine. Swaine had four rebounds while Landers had three.
Findlay looks to rebound with a home game against Northwood this Saturday, Dec. 17 in Croy Gymnasium. Tip off is set for 3:00 pm.