Schedule
Hillsdale (3-4, 1-1 G-MAC) at Northwood (5-3, 1-1 G-MAC) | 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 11 | Riepma Arena | Midland, MI
 
Follow/Watch
Live Stats & Video
 
Additional Info
Hillsdale Roster | Northwood Roster | Hillsdale Stats | Northwood Stats |  G-MAC Standings | G-MAC Stats
 

Projected Starters
Hillsdale: #2 Ashton Janowski, Sr, G, Pewaukee, WI/Pewaukee (13.8 ppg, 2 apg); #11 Cole McWhinnie, Sr., G, Toledo, OH/Christian (8.4 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 3.6 apg, 1.4 spg); #22 Tommy Morgan, rFr., G/F, Brunswick, OH/Brunswick (9.4 ppg, 2 rpg, 1.2 spg); #24 Garrett Bolte, Jr., F, Chicago, IL/Hinsdale South (5.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg); #31 CJ Yarian, Jr., F, Cleveland, OH/St. Ignatius (7.6 ppg, 6.2 rpg)
 
Northwood: #0 Julian Lewis, Sr, G/F, Ypsilanti, MI/Ann Arbor Huron/Eastern Michigan (5.4 ppg, 4,4 rpg); #3 Brayden Szamrej, So., G, Hudsonville, MI/Hudsonville (6.1 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 4.4 apg, 1.5 spg); #14 Jamison Eklund, Jr., F, Westphalia, MI/Pewamo-Westphalia/Lansing CC (16.3 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.9 spg); #23 Parker Day, Sr., F, Saginaw, MI/Heritage/Emporia St. (16.1 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.4 spg); #24 Will Young II, Sr., G, Okemos, MI/Okemos (15.8 ppg, 4.4 rpg)

 
Scouting the Opposition
Northwood: The Timberwolves are looking to continue a climb up the G-MAC standings in the second year under head coach Tom Church, who brought an up-tempo and offense-minded style with him from Tiffin.
 
Northwood stunned Western Michigan in a preseason exhibition game and also took down Ferris State and Church's old school, Tiffin, for quality wins in a 5-3 start. Church has paired holdover Will Young II, a high-scoring guard in his fourth season in Midland, with three impact transfers, headlined by high-scoring posts Jamison Eklund, in his second year with the team, and former Emporia State player Parker Day. Young, Eklund and Day all average over 15 points and have been the engines of a high-octane offense that's putting up 84.6 points per game.
 
Eastern Michigan transfer Julian Lewis and Brayden Szamrej round out the starting lineup with important two-way contributions, and Northwood also has gotten a lift from standout freshman John Simpson, who's averaging 12.5 points per game as the Timberwolves' sixth man off the bench.
 
Key for Northwood so far in 2025-26 has been improvement at the defensive end, as the Timberwolves have shot up from 10^th in points conceded per game in 2024-25 to fifth so far. If Northwood can sustain that, the Timberwolves could be a serious contender for the program's first winning season since 2019-20.
 
As one of Hillsdale's biggest rivals, the Chargers and Timberwolves have a long basketball history dating back to the 60s. Hillsdale controls the series with a 66-35 record in 101 meetings, and has won nine straight against Northwood dating back to 2017, with all nine wins coming by 10 or more points.

 
Scouting the Chargers
Hillsdale is looking to reload, not rebuild in 2025-26 after a 20-win campaign last season and heavy graduation losses that saw four starters depart.

There is upside for Hillsdale, as the Chargers rolled with a deep bench last season, meaning that despite the departures, there's still plenty of experience returning for Hillsdale to work with in 2025-26.

The Chargers' lone returning starter is point guard Ashton Janowski, a double-digit scorer in 2024-25 and a key leader and floor general at a vital position to have experience at for any young team. Along with Janowski, Hillsdale also returns junior CJ Yarian, who started 28 games at center in 2023-24 and remained an important part of the rotation in the post last year.

Hillsdale will look to a variety of veterans who came off the bench last season to play bigger roles, including 2024-25 rotation players Cole McWhinnie at guard, and Caleb Glaser and Garrett Bolte in the paint. While they got more limited minutes in 2024-25, there likely will be bigger roles for Connor Stonebraker, Jacob Meyer and Michael App as well, and a breakout season from one of those three could elevate the Chargers.

With major graduation losses, Hillsdale also brought in a huge class of new faces that could have an impact on this 2025-26 campaign. Tommy Morgan will compete to be a part of the wing rotation after redshirting last season, while guards Braylon Morris, Paxton Giertz and Israel Gentry and forwards Matt Buckman and John Morris also will get a shot at earning early playing time.

Hillsdale is hoping for the return of junior Mikey McCollum, the team's sixth man off the bench in 2024-25 who finished as the team's second-leading scorer with 12.1 points per game last year. McCollum has battled injuries and has missed the start of the 2025-26 season but if he can get healthy he would provide a major boost offensively.

Returning for his third season as head coach of Hillsdale College is Keven Bradley, who has a 38-20 record so far leading the Chargers. Bradley is joined by two new assistants, Jackson McLaughlin and Braeden Proctor, for the 2025-26 campaign.
 
Other Notes

• Thursday's women's and men's basketball games are another opportunity for Hillsdale and Northwood to earn points in the competition to claim "The Jack" for the 2025-26 school year. The Jack is an all-sports trophy contested by the Chargers and Timberwolves on an annual basis where each team gets a point for winning a head-to-head matchup or for finishing higher in the conference championship in sports without head-to-head matchups. The trophy is named in honor of two legendary athletic directors – Hillsdale's Jack McAvoy and Northwood's Jack Finn. The Chargers currently possess the trophy after outcompeting Northwood in the 2024-25 school year and are looking to hang on to it for 2025-26. Hillsdale currently has a 4-1 lead thanks to two wins and volleyball and higher finishes at the men's and women's cross country championships in the fall, while Northwood picked up a point with a win in football.
• The Chargers were picked to finish fifth in the G-MAC Preseason Poll released in late October. Defending champion Findlay was picked to repeat with eight first place votes, while Ashland and Thomas More were picked second and third, respectively, with two first place votes each. Cedarville was tabbed to place fourth. Since joining the league in 2017-18, Hillsdale has never finished lower than third in the final standings.
• As a senior captain and Hillsdale's only returning starter from last season, Ashton Janowski is linchpin player for the Chargers. With 650 career points entering the 2025-26 season, he has an outside chance of becoming the 42^nd player in Hillsdale College men's basketball history to surpass 1,000 points with a big final campaign. He's off to an impressive shooting start in 2025-26 so far, leading Hillsdale with 14.3 points per game and burying a game-winning shot with one second to play in a 74-72 victory over Ohio Christian on Nov. 22.
• Freshman Braylon Morris had a huge contest for the Chargers on Saturday, Dec. 6 against Lake Erie, scoring 25 of his career-high 28 points after halftime to help the Chargers pull out a 96-86 double OT win over the Storm. Morris shot 90% from the floor and 80% from 3-point range in an impressive performance, and showed the potential to be an important offensive contributor for the team going forward if he can build off his strong game.
• Senior Cole McWhinnie is a veteran leader for the Chargers and playing a key role on the perimeter for Hillsdale in his first season as a starter. McWhinnie is second on the team in scoring with 9.9 points per game, and leading the Chargers in 3-pointers made with 12 on 36.4% shooting, while also ranking first among Hillsdale players in assists (3.1 per game, ninth in the G-MAC) and steals (1.3 per game).
• Connor Stonebraker has excelled in his first significant action on the court at Hillsdale College in the 2025-26 season after two years of behind-the-scenes development. A sophomore who saw spot minutes for Hillsdale last year, Stonebraker ranks third on the Chargers in points per game (9.1) and is adding five rebounds per game at this early juncture in the season. Hillsdale will look to him to continue his significant contributions off the bench as conference play approaches.
• Junior Caleb Glaser has proven to be an effective rebounder and shot-blocker off the bench for the Chargers this season, currently ranking 12^th in the G-MAC with 5.9 boards per game, while also ranking sixth in the conference with 1.1 blocks per game. An athletic player who's not afraid to get physical in the paint, Glaser brings important energy to the Chargers as a reserve.