Senior Cole McWhinnie during the home opener: Courtesy | Ashley Van Hoose

The Hillsdale men’s basketball team won their home opener against Andrews University, 89-42. Earlier in the week, the Chargers lost two games to Saginaw Valley State University 79–77 Nov. 14 on the road and 80–73 Nov. 16 at home, starting the season 1–2. 

Senior guard and captain Ashton Janowski, who is coming off a preseason injury, said he is hopeful about the rest of their season despite the first two losses.  

“I think it is vital that our team takes a deep breath, realizes that our season is still very much alive, and we are still playing for all of the goals we set for ourselves in the preseason,” Janowski said. “The exciting part is that we still have 93% of our regular season ahead of us, which will provide us with plenty of opportunities to see major improvements from where we are now to where we hope to end up.”

The Chargers held the lead for most of the game against Saginaw on Friday, although they were not able to take a big lead. With less than seven minutes remaining, Hillsdale led 67–60, but Saginaw went on a run to achieve a 77–71 lead with 56 seconds remaining on the clock. Hillsdale came back to make it 79–77 with 14 seconds remaining, but were not able to get a shot off before the clock ran out.

Janowski said the loss was eye-opening for the team.

“I think our loss on Friday made us aware that we have a lot of areas to improve upon, and going into Sunday, we came into the game under the impression that we were fully prepared to go and avenge our loss,” Janowski said. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as we came out flat and got down early.”

In the home opener, Hillsdale fell to Saginaw. The Chargers trailed 32–16  with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half. In the next three minutes, they managed to recover with an 11–0 run with senior guard and captain Cole McWhinnie and sophomore forward Connor Stonebraker each contributing a 3-pointer and Stonebraker adding three more points. With less than three minutes remaining, Stonebraker hit another 3-pointer to close the gap to three at the half. 

Hillsdale battled in the second half but could not take the lead. With less than two minutes remaining, the Chargers trailed by two points. Unfortunately, Saginaw had a series of fast breaks which clinched their lead, totaling the score at 80–73.

Head coach Keven Bradley, who is starting his third year as head coach for the Chargers, said although it was an unfortunate beginning to the season, he was impressed by several of his players.

“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” Bradley said. “We’ve got some work to continue to keep improving upon. We played a really tough game on the road Friday and another challenging game Sunday, but we had guys who stepped up and played really well. I thought Ashton Janowski, Cole McWhinnie, and Connor Stonebraker had excellent games, and we just need more guys to play with them.”

During Wednesday’s home game, the Chargers took control early, with a 50-21 lead by the end of the first half. Freshman forward Tommy Morgan led the Chargers in scoring with 20 points, and junior forward CJ Yarian assisted with 15 rebounds.  

McWhinnie said the team is ready to go back out again and attack the rest of the season.

“We’re itching to get back out there and get back on the boat,” McWinnie said. “We have a lot of stuff we can look at and grow from and a lot of the season ahead of us, so many opportunities to get better and work on people transitioning into new roles.”

Janowski said as a captain, he is excited by the team culture they have built.

“I believe every successful team encourages a culture of competitiveness, togetherness, and refusal to back down from challenges,” Janowski said. “It is my job as a leader to ensure that these traits remain ever-present in our locker room so we can continue to improve and begin stringing together wins.”

Bradley said these losses have made the team eager to play again and change the tide for the rest of the season.

“We are trying to approach everything day by day,” Bradley said. “We have two more home games this week, and frankly, we’re just looking for another opportunity to get back out there and compete.”

The Chargers face Ohio Christian University at home Nov. 22, University of Indianapolis in       Indiana Nov. 26, and Malone University in Ohio Dec. 4.