UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The Cardinal Men's Basketball team rounded-out Thanksgiving weekend with a non-conference regional contest at home against the Hillsdale College Chargers on Sunday (Nov. 26) afternoon. After carrying a 27-16 lead into the half, the Chargers added 52 second half points, closing-out for a 79-55 win over the Cards at O'Neill Arena.
The visitors held the lead throughout much of the opening half but the Cardinals led by as many as three twice, the second when Mike Wells Jr. made good on a layup attempt to give SVSU the 14-11 lead at the 7:49 marker.
That would be the final field goal of the first half for Saginaw Valley, with Hillsdale closing out the frame with a 12-0 run to take the 27-16 lead into the half.
Hillsdale worked the lead out to 17 points (38-21) with 17:02 to play in the game but the Cardinals trimmed the deficit back to single digits at the 13:28 marker as James Toohey drilled a three-pointer to make the score 35-44.
The Chargers got the edge back up into double-figures, holding off a Cardinal push towards the end and outscoring SVSU 52-39 in the second half to seal the 79-55 win.
Inside the Boxscore
- HC shot 54.7% (29-53) from the floor while Saginaw Valley was hitting shots at a 34.5% (20-58) clip.
- The Chargers posted a 46-24 edge in points in the paint.
- SVSU out-rebounded Hillsdale by a narrow 33-32 total.
- Hillsdale's bench had 26 points while SVSU's had 21.
- Wells had a team-high 17 points, adding two rebounds and a pair of assists. He was named the Meijer "Player of the Game."
- Fred John Jr. and Jeremy Pung each added a game-best eight boards. John had six points and Pung had four.
- DJ Hoskins netted eight points, three boards, three steals and two helpers.
- Sebastiano Lamonato added seven points and two rebounds while Malik Garner had a team-high seven assists.
Up Next...
The Cardinals hit the Upper Peninsula for the opening of GLIAC play this upcoming weekend. That begins on Thursday (Nov. 30), as SVSU plays at Michigan Tech. Tip-off is set for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off in Houghton.
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