SAULT STE. MARIE - Lake Superior State men's basketball fell 97-73 at home in a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Quarterfinal matchup against Hillsdale College on Tuesday. The Lakers (19-10, 14-9 GLIAC) were unable to maintain a blistering offense from the Chargers (18-9, 13-9 GLIAC), which scored 62 points in the second half.
Four starters and a pair of reserves reached double figures for the Chargers as they shot 61.8 percent (21-34) in the second half. GLIAC Player of the Year Kyle Cooper tied guard Zach Miller with 19 points each to lead the Chargers. Cooper collected a game-high 15 rebounds, while Miller dished out a game-high 14 assists as both players produced double-doubles.
Hillsdale's 7-0 center, Jason Pretzer, scored 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and went 4-for-7 from behind the arc to finish with 18 points. Pretzer sparked the Chargers offense in the second half with 14 of his total points and all four three-pointers made coming in the final 20 minutes.
With the score tied 40-40, Pretzer knocked down consecutive three-pointers, followed by a layup to put the Chargers up 48-40. Following a layup by Akaemji Williams, Pretzer rattled home his fourth made shot from behind the arc for the half and put the Chargers ahead by nine.
Williams led the Lakers with 28 points while dishing out six assists. With 208 assists on the season, Williams surpassed the LSSU single-season assists record of 205, set by Thomas Gordon in 1986-87.
Senior Devin Daly scored 20 points and hauled in 12 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season. Daly surpassed Derek Kinney for eighth all-time on the LSSU career rebounds list with 686 rebounds during a spectacular four-year career. His 222 field goals made this season ties Ron Sober's mark, set in 1967-68, for eighth all-time in a single season.
Hillsdale capped the game with runs of 8-0, 6-0, and 10-0 to squander any attempts by the Lakers to close the gap late.
The Chargers received 17 points and five rebounds from guard Nate Neveau and 10 points with six rebounds from Nate Archer, both coming off the bench. Hillsdale's bench outscored the LSSU reserves 27-9.
Hillsdale next face eighth-seeded Walsh in the GLIAC semi-finals which will now be hosted by the two-seed Ashland. Walsh upset top-seed and Co-GLIAC Champions Saginaw Valley State, 91-85 on Tuesday.
