The Basics
Score: Saginaw Valley 72, Hillsdale 69
Records: SVSU (17-4 13-2 GLIAC) | HC (12-7, 8-7 GLIAC)
Location: Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena - Hillsdale, Mich.
HILLSDALE, Mich. - Coming off a big win on the road Saturday at Ferris State, the SVSU men's basketball team kept it rolling and posted its fifth straight victory at Hillsdale College Monday evening, defeating the Chargers by a 72-69 margin in GLIAC North Division play.
After a quick Cardinal lead off a C.J. Turnage layup, the game remained tight and was tied a pair of times, coming the second time with the score 16-16 when Wade Gelhaus made good on a layup at the 14:10 marker of the opening half.
A Mitchell Baenziger triple with 11:03 showing on the clock made the SVSU lead five points (23-18) but Hillsdale scored six straight to take a 24-23 lead at the 8:24 marker.
Another Gelhaus bucket with 5:00 to play gave the visitors a 30-28 advantage and triples from Garrett Hall, Baenziger and a pair of free throws from Damon Bozeman gave SVSU its largest lead of the contest at 10 points (38-28) with 2:37 to play in the half.
Saginaw Valley would maintain the lead through the half and the scoreboard showed 43-35 at the break.
The lead reached double-digits again at the 15:08 marker of the second half when SV scored four straight points on a Hall jumper and two Gelhaus free throws to make the score 50-40.
The Chargers cut the deficit to 52-51 with 10:01 to play after connecting on two free throws and a layup. HC took the lead at the 7:57 mark with the score 55-54 after two free throws.
A Sterling Johnson layup for SV re-gained the lead for SVSU at the 6:53 marker, making the score 59-58.
Saginaw Valley maintained the lead and pushed it out to six points with 14 seconds left when Caleb Davis connected on two freebies to make the score 70-64.
Hillsdale cut the deficit to 71-69 after a late Kyle Cooper triple with just under a second left.
On the Cardinal inbounds pass, an intentional foul was called, sending Hall to the line for two. He hit on his seconds, pushing the lead out to 72-69 and SVSU got the ball back as well.
They inbounded the ball and the 0.6 seconds left on the clock expired, sealing the three-point win for the first-place Cardinals.
Inside the Boxscore
- Hall had a team-high 20 points in 28 minutes off the bench for SVSU. He added four rebounds and three assists as well.
- Baenziger and Turnage each added 12 points, with Turnage posting five boards, an assist and steal while Baenziger had two rebounds, two assists and a steal while going 4-of-5 from three-point range.
- Davis reached double-digits as well, netting 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
- Kellen Smith had a game-high five assists for the Cards.
- The Cardinals were on from beyond the arc, going 8-of-13 from three for a 61.5% mark.
- SVSU out-rebounded the Chargers 32-28 and posted a 30-16 advantage in points in the paint.
- Kyle Cooper led Hillsdale with game-highs of 26 points and 15 boards.
Meijer "Player of the Game"
Hall earned Meijer "Player of the Game" honors after his team-best 20 points off the bench, going 6-of-10 shooting, 2-of-2 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 from the charity stripe. He added four rebounds and three assists in the contest for SVSU. He is now just 12 points shy of the 1,000-point mark for his career
Up Next for SVSU
Saginaw Valley travels to Lake Superior State on Thursday, February 4th for a 7:30 p.m. matchup. The Lakers are coming off a 112-111 overtime loss at Northwood University on Monday evening. The Cardinals defeated LSSU earlier this season at home, 75-70.
@SVSU_MBB | #svsumbb