In a battle between two of the top teams in the GLIAC conference, the No. 13 Grand Valley State University men’s basketball team suffered a 68-60 setback at No. 4 Hillsdale College on Saturday.

The Lakers (13-3, 8-1 GLIAC) were within four points late in the second half after sophomore guard Breland Hogan hit a 3-pointer, but the Chargers pulled away to secure the victory.

Hogan finished the game with 10 points on a perfect 4-4 shooting while juniors Nick Waddell and Alvin Storrs led the team in scoring with 13 each.

“Our whole team has to step up. We know that if someone isn’t shooting well, then it’s our job to step up as a team,” Hogan said. “At the end of the day, it’s a collective effort from the whole team, and we have to pick each other up.”

Offense lacked in the first half as both teams shot under 45 percent from the field. Hillsdale capitalized on ball movement (six assists) and shooting, particularly from guard Tyler Gerber. Gerber hit three first-half 3-pointers, while GVSU hit only one.

The inability to avoid foul trouble added to Laker woes. Redshirt freshman center Asauhn Tatum – the team’s top interior defender – was limited to just 11 minutes due to foul trouble.

“With Asauhn, he was in foul trouble the whole time, so that had an effect on us,” said GVSU head coach Ric Wesley. “We never got to the bonus in the first half, and it also doesn’t help to have foul trouble. It takes away some of your aggressiveness.”

The second half saw both teams find their offense, but the Lakers could not overcome the halftime deficit. After making about 50 percent of their 3-pointers in their previous three games, the Lakers struggled from outside on Saturday and made only 5-of-20 from deep.

“Hillsdale gets a lot of notoriety for their shooting, but they’re a very underrated defensive team,” Wesley said. “They’re just solid defensively, so it’s hard to get open shots. But we struggled to get a rhythm, and when we got our opportunities, we missed. They’re just really solid on the catch. There are no wide open shots to be taken.”

Aside from foul trouble and poor outside shooting, the Lakers were hindered by tough performances from their top two scorers. Senior Justin Ringler, the team’s leading scorer, was held to a season-low six points on 1-of-8 shooting, while the team’s top 3-point shooter, junior James Thomas, was held scoreless after missing all seven of his shots, including 0-for-5 from deep.

“Alvin and Nick Waddell had good games offensively, but this just wasn’t one of James’ or Justin’s best nights,” Wesley said. “It kind of went the way I expected: it was a drop-down drag-out kind of game, and (Ringler and Thomas) never really got going.”

An array of Charger scoring runs, along with 17 second-half points from Hillsdale forward Brent Eaton, helped to seal the Lakers’ fate. Along with Eaton’s 21 points, the Chargers got production from Gerber (14 points) and forward Brad Guinane (15 points).

“Mistakes on defense were what got us. Their big three beat us, and we knew going in that we had to slow them down,” Wesley said. “That was a bigger disappointment than our offense.”

However, a bright spot for the Lakers was the play of an improving Waddell. After scoring 12 points against Northwood last week, the junior filled in for Tatum as the primary center for most of the game and produced when needed. Waddell scored 11 of his 13 total points in the second half.

“Coach put the ball in my hands and told me to play defense without my hands. The refs were really calling those fouls,” Waddell said. “When our outside shots aren’t falling, we need to score down low, and when I can play down low, I can work the ball out and really open up the floor for shooters like Wes and Bre.”

GVSU will have a short break from action before returning to the court at 6 p.m. on Thursday at home against Northern Michigan University.

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