UNIVERSITY CENTER -- The Saginaw Valley State University men's basketball team defeated Hillsdale College today (Jan. 5) by a final score of 48-41. The victory vaults SVSU to 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the GLIAC, while Hillsdale drops to 8-4 on the year and 4-4 in the conference.

The Cardinals and Chargers were locked up in a physical back-and-forth battle for much of the first half as both teams forced the other into creating multiple turnovers.

Saginaw Valley regained the lead at 15-14 for the first time since the first five minutes of action as Sterling Johnson (Detroit, Mich. / De La Salle HS) drove through the lane for a layup with 4:23 to go in the half.

A successful Brett Beland (Menominee, Mich.) three-pointer off a pass from Kellen Smith (Covington, Kentucky / Scott HS) with 48 seconds left in the half gave Saginaw Valley the 18-16 halftime edge over Hillsdale. Beland was responsible for 11 of SVSU's 18 first half points.

The 16 first half points allowed by SVSU was a season-best as the lead changed hands eight times in the first twenty minutes of action.

The second half opened with each team exchanging buckets before a three-point jumper by Mike Schaaf (Saginaw, Mich. / Arthur Hill HS) put the Cardinals up 21-20 with 17:43 left to play.

The Chargers then went on a 9-2 run before SVSU tied the game yet again at 31-31 on a pair of free throws by Brett Beland with 12:01 remaining in the contest.

After falling behind during the next ten minutes, the Cardinals cut the lead to one (41-40) as Brett Beland stole the Hillsdale inbounds pass and cashed it in for an easy two with 3:32 to play.

SVSU took the 42-41 lead with one minute to go as Mike Schaaf took control in the paint against three Charger defenders for the go-ahead bucket.

Clutch free throw shooting down the stretch from Chris Webb (Saginaw, Mich. / Arthur Hill HS) and Brett Beland along with stifling defensive pressure enabled the Cardinals to come away with the much-deserved 48-41 victory.

The SVSU defense held Hillsdale scoreless during the final 6:27 of action as the Cardinals ended the game on a 10-0 run, including 6-for-6 from the line in the final 33 seconds. The Cardinals defensive pressure led to a number of Charger misses with red-shirt freshman guard Kellen Smith snatching a team-high seven rebounds.

Saginaw Valley was paced by "Meijer Player of the Game" Brett Beland who recorded a season-high 21 points to go with two assists. The Cardinals defense forced Hillsdale into 15 turnovers and held the Chargers to a season-low 41 points for the game.

The Cardinals will return to action next Thursday (Jan. 10) when they play host to Lake Superior State. Tip is scheduled for 6:00 PM.