Chargers start season undefeated, 5-0

By Christian Peck-Dimit Associate Editor

With the help of a pair of breakout performances, the Hillsdale men’s basketball team improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2015-16 and lept to No. 16 in the DII Sports Information Directors of America (D2SIDA’s) national top 25 rankings.

The Chargers stayed undefeated in non-conference play, taking down the Wayne State Warriors 66-64, the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals 71-55, and the Davenport Panthers 68-58.

While jumping into the highest spot in the national rankings of any previously unranked team, the Chargers also jumped from tenth to second in the D2SIDA Midwest Regional rankings.

“A couple different people stepping up in different games to get it done as a group, that was a big part of our success this weekend,” fifth-year forward Peter Kalthoff said.

Wayne State marked the team’s home opener, giving Charger fans their first opportunity to watch the team at the Dawn Tibbetts Potter Arena this season. The game did not disappoint, with five lead changes in the final four minutes, including a game-winning layup through contact from senior guard Kyle Goessler with less than 15 seconds remaining.

“They challenged us in a few different areas, and we got down and were in trouble a little bit,” head coach John Tharp said. “I was happy with how our kids responded and fought back, and I thought our seniors made some big plays. I thought Jack really got us going there and made some big plays and Coach Bradley made a wonderful play call and Kyle scored at the end.”

Kalthoff stepped up, dropping a career-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, including 2-of-2 from outside.

“Peter saved us, we wouldn’t have won that game if it wasn’t for Peter, I was really pleased with his effort,” Tharp said. “It was huge to have Peter step up, he’s a talented offensive player, I’ve seen it for a long, long time, and one thing I also think Peter’s done a great job of is he’s blocking some key shots for us with his athletic ability.

Down by nine with 8:23 to go, the team used a 15-2 run to take a four-point lead with 3:06 remaining. Senior guard Jack Gohlke scored seven of the Chargers’ points on the run, which was capped off by an and-one finish at the rim by Kalthoff.

Hillsdale, however, found itself down by one with the ball with under thirty seconds left. On a play drawn up by associate head coach Keven Bradley, Goessler curled off a dribblehand-off from Kalthoff, cutting into the lane and going right at the chest of his defender before finishing a tough layup that proved to be the game-winner.

The team’s next game — on Sunday against Saginaw — saw another Charger drop a new career high. Junior guard Charles Woodhams exploded for 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting in just 14 minutes.

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“It’s so important for this basketball team for that to happen,” Tharp said. “It has to be such a collective effort by our group, and for Chuck to come in off the bench and give us what he did was magnificent.”

As soon as he checked in midway through the first half, Woodhams scored on his first three possessions.

“My role on the team right now is just to go in and give as much energy as I can,” Woodhams said. “I’m not looking to necessarily shoot it every time now just because I had a career high, I’m just going to keep doing what I’ve always done and just try to help the team win the best I can.”

The game marked Woodham’s first career game scoring in double-digits. Goessler, Gohlke, and Kalthoff joined him in double figures, each with 10 points.

Though sophomore forward Joe Reuter shot just 2-of-9 from the floor, he doubled his previous career-high in assists, finishing with a game-high eight. He was one of four Chargers who finished with at least four assists, joining Gohlke, Goessler, and senior guard Cole Nau.

“Jack’s assist totals have been great this year, he’s found people, he’s made some plays off the dribble,” Tharp said. “I think Joe is probably leading us in rebounding right now, he had a really big assist total against Saginaw Valley as well. Sometimes we define playing well or not playing well strictly on making shots, but there’s so many different ways that you can impact that game.”

The newly-minted No.16 team in the nation started off strong against Davenport, taking a lead of as much as 21, and as much as 19 in the second half. The Chargers, however, shot just 29% from the field and 15% from three in the second half, allowing Davenport back into the game.

The Panthers cut their deficit down to just three with 2:41 left, and again with less than two minutes to play. Hillsdale responded, with sophomore forward Eric Radisevic knocking down his second three of the game, and Nau grabbing an offensive rebound before put- ting in an and-one layup with 40 seconds to play, effectively putting the game away. Nau also posted a new career-high in points, finishing with 13. The team now looks ahead to its second home game of the year, a Sunday matchup with Northern Michigan at 1 p.m.