UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. - The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team fell to Hillsdale College on Senior Night (Feb. 18), 62-50. The loss drops the Cardinals to 10-14 overall on the season and 6-11 in the GLIAC, while the Chargers improve to 21-4 on the season and 15-3 in the conference.
The Cardinals took their first lead of the night, 9-8, at the 15:22 mark of first half after a successful Michael Fugate (White Lake, Mich./Lakeland HS) runner off the glass.
After the Chargers took a slim lead, Jay Thames (Port Huron, Mich./Northern HS) converted on a difficult drive to the bucket for two, knotting up the contest at 11 all with 11:12 remaining in the half.
Greg Foster (Indianapolis, Ind./T.C. Howe HS) made a layup as he slashed to the paint giving SVSU a slim 15-13 advantage with eight minutes to play. Foster finished the game with eight points and eight rebounds.
The back-and-forth battle in the first half continued as Mike Schaaf (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) connected on a jumper from the top of the key to take a slim 17-15 edge.
In the final minute of the first half, Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich./Arthur Hill HS) juked the defender and hit an open jumper to give SVSU the 25-24 lead.
Hillsdale took a 26-25 edge into halftime with a put back layup as time expired in the first half.
Freshman Matt Burgess (Capac, Mich.) made a strong move in the paint and put in a layup off glass for two and the 33-32 edge.
Eli Redman (Bath, Mich.) followed on the next possession with a jumper from the elbow at the 15:07 mark of the second half and the 35-32 lead. Redman recorded eight points in his final home game at SVSU.
Meijer "Player of the Game" Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich.) knocked down a long-range bucket from the perimeter to extend the Cardinal lead to 42-34 with 13:30 to go. Beland finished the contest with ten points.
The Chargers bounced back and took a slight edge before Beland once again hit from three-point range to give SVSU a 45-43 lead with 9:14 to go in regulation.
Hillsdale then gained momentum and ran out to a 58-50 lead with 2:30 remaining in regulation. The Cardinals were unable to convert on shot attempts in the final two minute as they fell 62-50.
SVSU fired 40.7 percent from the field in the contest, while Hillsdale managed just 39.3 percent. The Cardinals got to the free throw line just four times on the evening.
Nine of the ten Cardinals who entered the contest scored points in the loss.
Saginaw Valley will finish up the season on the road when they travel to the Upper Peninsula to face Michigan Tech on Thursday (Feb. 23) at 7:30 pm.