WEST LIBERTY, WV - Hillsdale and Malone represented the Great Midwest Athletic Conference in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Atlantic Regional that started on Saturday inside West Liberty’s ASRC facility.
Hillsdale handled No. 4 seed Mercyhurst in the semifinal round and advanced to Tuesday’s regional championship game vs. No. 3 seed West Liberty. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET with a trip to the Elite Eight on the line.
Mercyhurst had generated quite a bit of buzz as an at-large selection, ranked No. 3 in the NABC Poll and coming off a win in the opening round yesterday vs. No. 5 seed Fairmont State. Mercyhurst held Fairmont State to just 58 points, the Mountain East Conference tournament champs that averaged 90+ during the regular season.
But it was Hillsdale (21-2) giving the Lakers a dose of their own medicine and absolutely put the clamps down on their own opponent on Sunday night in a lopsided 67-48 victory.
From the opening tip, it was apparent Hillsdale had a significant height advantage over the defensive-minded Lakers and conference coach of the year John Tharp exploited those mismatches.
Through the first five minutes, the Chargers were methodical on both ends of the floor, working the ball down low to Patrick Cartier for some point-blank looks in the paint, including a two-handed flush. HC led 12-2 after a pair of FT’s by the consensus conference player of the year, who auditioned his skill set for larger national audience tuned in for this one.
The Lakers battled back and took their first lead with just under nine minutes to go in the first half. But all-conference guard Connor Hill had three big buckets to keep things close with Cartier on the bench, including a steal and layup.
As Mercyhurst adjusted to get back into contention, the Chargers went to their outside game a little bit more and the move paid immediate dividends.
Reserve guard Kyle Goesseler shook loose from a defender and nailed a step back three that gave the Chargers their first double-digit lead at 32-22 with 3:35 until halftime. First team all-conference forward Austen Yarian hit a big three in HC’s final possession of the half and the team forced a turnover.
It was more of the same grind for Hillsdale in the second half and the Lakers managed only nine points past the midway point of the second half. With Mercyhurst now respecting the ability of the Chargers to make their shots from outside, Hillsdale went right back to work inside and Cartier made the Lakers pay.
A 20-point lead was established around the 6-minute mark in the second half and the Lakers managed only 22 points in the second half after scoring just 26 in the opening half. Mercyhurst also shot under 30 percent from the field (14-47).
Cartier led all players with 29 points on 10-of-12 shooting. It was a dominant performance that has him among the few players in the running for All-American honors by either the D2CCA or the NABC. Hill finished with a dozen and second team all-conference forward Davis Larson was in double-digits as well.
The conference tournament Pioneers tipped off against regional host West Liberty on Saturday. As expected, it turned out into a high-scoring track meet between both programs.
Malone went on a torrid run to end the first half and make the score 42-41 against the Hilltoppers. Senior forward Marcus Ernst showed out with a game-high 33 points on 11-of-15 shooting. He added 11 more makes on free throws and added seven boards with a pair of blocks.
Bo Myers returned from an injury sustained in the conference championship game and scored a dozen. Five different Pioneers scored in double-digits including Bryce Butler with 18, Jaret Majestic with 14 and Justin Miller with 10.
On paper, it was really tough to see where the Hilltoppers had the edge. Both teams were even in rebounding, Malone had a higher shooting percentage and West Liberty only had one more made three-pointer. The Hilltoppers did commit 9 turnovers to the Pioneers’ 20, but even then, it was still only a +5 advantage in points after turnovers.
All told, it was an incredible effort for Malone in their first NCAA Regional appearance. The Pioneers conclude the 2020-21 season with a 17-7 overall record.