After an exhibition game against the reigning MAC Champs, the University of Toledo Rockets, the Chargers’ men’s basketball team is now two weeks from the beginning of their season.
The team is coming off of perhaps their best season in program history. Last season’s Chargers finished with a 21-3 overall record and topped the G-MAC with a 19-1 record in conference play.
“We know we’re going to have a target on our backs this year because of the type of season that we had last year, we’re looking to embrace that challenge,” junior forward Patrick Cartier said.
The team faced off against a tough division I opponent in their exhibition game on Saturday. The Chargers, though, were able to keep the game within single digits until the final 5:24 of the game, when the Rockets shot off on a 18-2 run to finish the game with a commanding 93-68 win.
“I told the team afterward that I wasn’t pleased with some of the things that I did leading up to the game as a coach, and with some of the decisions that we made in the game and with some of our preparation,” Head Coach John Tharp said.
The Chargers will now look forward to the beginning of their regular season. The National Association of Basketball Coaches released their Division II preseason rankings, which put Hillsdale at number seven.
“It’s good to be recognized, but at the same time we try not to pay too much attention to them just because nothing’s given to you,” senior forward Austen Yarian said. “Everyone’s going to try to give us their best game so we just have to be as prepared as we can for every game.”
The first official game of the season comes on Nov. 12 at Saginaw Valley State University. That will begin a slew of five non-conference games across the next two weeks before the start of conference play in December.
“Our non-conference schedule is brutal,” Tharp said. “We expect to win every time we step on the floor, but we’re not there yet, we’re not making enough winning plays at practice for you to call us a seventh ranked team.”
