HILLSDALE, MI - Down big early, Wesleyan kept it close against Hillsdale early before eventually falling 80-60 to the Chargers. The Panthers struggled in the second half, scoring just 19 points in the frame.
Hillsdale improves to 11-6 (6-4 G-MAC), while Wesleyan drops to 11-6 (5-4 G-MAC).
The Chargers jumped on the Panthers early, opening the game on a 10-0 run. An
Edward Jones Jr. bucket eventually stopped the run, but the Chargers still couldn't miss, going up 26-9 at the 11:28 mark of the first half. Buckets from
Kennedy Miles,
Aleksa Rakic, and a three from
Logan McIntire cut into the Charger advantage, but a few more threes made it 32-18 Hillsdale late in the half. McIntire caught fire late in the half, and his two threes in the final two minutes made it just a 46-41 lead for Hillsdale at the break.
Down 11 early in the second half, the Panthers mounted a charge that saw them cut the lead down to just three on a
Borja Fernandez bucket, 57-54. From there Wesleyan seemed to self destruct, going 0-11 with four turnovers on their next 15 possessions. A
NaVuan Peterson three with 1:06 remaining in the game finally broke Wesleyan's eight and a half minute field goal drought, but the damage was done. In that time, Hillsdale had mounted a 20-1 run to take a convincing 77-55 lead. They would ride that lead to the finish to win their 11th game of the season.
Wesleyan shot 24-58 (41.4%) from the field and 7-19 (36.8%) from three. In the second half alone, Wesleyan only hit eight total shots and went 1-7 from behind the arc. Hillsdale on the other hand shot it well, going 31-58 (53.4%) from the field and 8-19 (42.1%) from three. Hillsdale ran the Panthers out of the gym, outscoring them 19-3 in fast break points.
Logan McIntire led the way with 17 points, including hitting five of the Panthers seven threes.
Kennedy Miles (13) and
Borja Fernandez (10) joined McIntire in double figures. McIntire led with five boards, while Miles dished out six assists.
The Panthers will look to right the ship next week when they host the Lake Erie Storm on Thursday the 25th. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:45 p.m. CT.
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