No. 5 Charger men's basketball team off to historic start

Christian Peck-Dimit Associate Editor

After a historic start to its season, the Hillsdale men’s basketball team tied for No.5 in the latest DII Sports Information Directors of America national poll and No.7 in the nation in the National Association of Basketball Coaches poll.

The Chargers started the season with 12 straight wins, the second best start in program history, and have been ranked top eleven in the nation in the NABC poll for eight straight weeks.

After an Elite Eight appearance last year, the team graduated three seniors, including the team’s starting frontcourt of first-team All-American forward Patrick Cartier and first-team All-Conference forward Austen Yarian.

In the wake of these losses, Chargers up and down the roster have stepped into larger roles to lead Hillsdale to a 16-1 overall record, and a G-MAC-best 9-1 in conference play. All five starters for the Chargers are averaging career-highs in points and rebounds.

The team has beat opponents with the 15th-best scoring margin in the nation, averaging 14 points more than they allow. The Chargers have only played in five games decided by single-digits.

“We have faith in our guys, we believe in our guys, and we have the so-called starting five, but the bench is important to us,” head coach John Tharp. “We need all those guys to continue to give us really good minutes.

Fifth-year senior forward Peter Kalthoff has emerged as the team’s leading scorer, one of four Chargers who average double-figures in scoring. Kalthoff played in just 12 games last year, spending the majority of the season sidelined with injuries. He has stepped into the starting lineup this year and has excelled. In the team’s 17 games Kalthoff has scored more than five times as many points as his last three years combined. He earned the first G-MAC Player of the Week award of his career this past week, becoming the first Charger to earn the award this year.

See Basketball A5